RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 


PRINCESS  CANTACUZENE 
COUNTESS  SPERANSKY 


NEE  GRANT 


RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 


RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

REVOLUTIONARY  RECOLLECTIONS 


BY 

PRINCESS  CANTACUZENE 

COUNTESS    SPERANSKY 

NEE  GRANT 


WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS    AND    MAPS 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 
1920 


COPYRIGHT,  1920,  BY 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


Published  March,  1920 


COPYRIGHT,  1919,  1920,  BY  THE  CURTIS  PUBLISHING  CO. 


THIS   LITTLE   VOLUME    IS   DEDICATED 

TO   THE    MEN 
WHO    HAVE    SO   NOBLY   WORKED   AND    FOUGHT 

FOR   RUSSIA 
IN  THE    PAST   FIVE    YEARS 


4354  o 


PREFACE 

ENCOURAGED  by  the  kindly  reception  given  to  my 
first  book,  Revolutionary  Days,  I  venture  herein, 
with  the  kind  permission  of  The  Saturday  Evening 
Post,  which  first  published  them,  to  present  to  the 
public  some  further  tales  of  the  varied  and  amazing 
currents  of  our  Russian  developments. 

The  facts  are  offered  as  I  observed  them,  or  learned 
of  them  at  first  hand,  and  I  have  tried  to  be  truthful 
and  unprejudiced.  Otherwise  these  pages  claim  no 
merit,  but  only  the  indulgence  of  a  public  which  has 
shown  me  much  sympathy  and  understanding,  and 
to  whom  I  owe  sincere  gratitude. 

JULIA  CANTACUZENE  SPERANSKY 

(NEE  GRANT). 
NEW  YORK,  January,  1920. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS    ....  i 

II.     REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  ....  46 

III.  "THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR" 98 

IV.  THE     CRIMEA'S     EFFORT — DENIKIN'S 

ARMY 138 

V.    THE  UKRAINIAN  MOVEMENT    ....  169 

VI.    THE  NEW  RUSSIAN  VIEW 206 

VII.    KOLCHAK 213 

VIII.     SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS 253 

IX.    DAUGHTERS  OF  RUSSIA 294 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Bouromka Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

Nikita  and  Lisa,  valet  and  maid  at  Bouromka 54 

Lieutenant-General  D6nikin,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 

South  Russian  Armies 150 

Kolchak 226 

Catherine  the  Great 296 

Catherine  Breshkovsky 318 


RUSSIAN   PEOPLE 

i 

PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS 

CHRISTMAS,  1915,  we  spent  in  the  country. 
I  rejoiced  on  the  long  trip,  to  go  away  from 
Petrograd's  December  darkness,  toward  the 
southern  sun.  I  had  finished  my  Christmas  shop- 
ping, and  attended  to  various  business — my  own 
personally,  our  regiment's,  and  some  for  the  Red 
Cross  branch  in  which  I  was  interested — and  I  left 
town  with  a  good  conscience.  I  met  my  husband  at 
Kief  on  the  way  home.  He  had  just  come  from  the 
trenches  on  our  Polish  front,  and  had  a  ten  days' 
holiday  leave.  We  were  to  be  a  large  family  party 
at  Bouromka  this  year,  and  we  anticipated  infinite 
pleasure  in  the  reunion. 

Forty-eight  hours  on  the  train  and  we  landed,  at 
5  A.  M.,  at  our  station,  Lubny.  There  Lukantchik 
— or  Little  Lucas,  who  is  twenty-seven  years  old  and 
six  feet  tall,  but  having  grown  up  in  the  house  re- 
mains "little"  in  distinction  to  Old  Lucas,  who  has 
cleaned  the  chateau  lamps  as  his  unique  occupation 
for  forty  years  or  more — met  us,  with  welcoming 
grins  and  hand-kisses.  He  seized  our  baggage, 

1 


2  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

helped  us  out  of  the  train,  and  while  he  and  his  col- 
league, faithful  Davidka,  who  had  been  my  hus- 
band's valet  since  their  extreme  youth,  struggled 
with  trunks,  we  seated  ourselves  in  the  station 
dining-room,  with  the  comfortable  provision-basket 
sent  us  from  home. 

By  the  time  we  had  eaten  and  felt  refreshed,  the 
winter's  sun  was  rising,  and  Lukantchik  announced 
that  the  carriages  "were  served" — one  for  us,  an- 
other for  Davidka  and  my  maid  El&ne,  with  a  wagon 
for  our  impressive  piles  of  baggage.  The  servants 
ate,  then  packed  our  dishes  quickly  with  many  gay 
phrases,  Lukantchik  giving  us  the  Bouromka  news: 
"Her  Highness  the  Princess  is  well.  .  .  .  Their 
Highnesses  the  children  are  also  well  and  happy; 
awaiting  your  arrival  and  their  presents  with  great 
excitement.  .  .  .  The  young  Prince  has  already 
hunted  with  his  aunt  and  uncle.  .  .  .  Old  Grand- 
mother Anna-Wladimirovna" — my  husband's  ex- 
nurse  and  the  present  housekeeper — "has  many 
goodies  prepared  already  for  the  Christmas  dinner." 
Though  his  chatter  was  so  animated,  it  was  not 
at  all  familiar;  for  Lukantchik's  is  the  touching 
devotion  coming  from  generations  of  good  relations 
between  chateau  and  village,  such  as  I  have  seen 
in  nearly  every  Russian  household  I  have  entered 
during  twenty  years. 

Finally,  all  being  ready,  we  go  to  the  station 
door,  and  our  travelling  carriages — since  the  snow 
is  not  deep  enough  for  sleighing — clatter  up,  to  the 
edification  of  the  gaping,  crowding  idlers,  mainly 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  3 

peasants  or  quaint  village  Jews.  We  travel  in  a 
"berline  de  voyage,"  which  belonged  to  my  grand- 
mother-in-law.  She  drove  it  from  Bouromka  to 
St.  Petersburg  in  the  old  days,  before  the  time  of 
railroads.  It  is  well  built  on  low,  heavy  lines,  large 
and  well-cushioned  inside,  swinging  luxurious  and 
strong  over  its  iron-bound  wheels.  Dimenti,  most 
perfect  and  vast  of  coachmen,  with  a  reputation, 
when  sober,  of  being  one  of  the  best  "troika"  drivers 
in  all  Russia,  and  when  drunk  of  being  quite  the 
best,  sits  on  our  box-seat,  spreading  over  most  of 
it,  holding  his  glossy  black  horses  back  upon  their 
haunches  without  the  least  apparent  effort. 

The  large  red  ball  of  the  rising  sun  makes  a  good 
background  for  the  equipage,  with  its  brass-studded, 
red-tasselled  harness,  scarlet  knit-silk  reins,  and  the 
gold-painted  "douga"  arching  high  above  the  cen- 
tral horse.  Dimenti's  silhouette  is  magnificent, 
with  his  long  hair  and  beard,  the  head  crowned  by 
the  small,  round  hat  of  the  classic  troika  driver, 
trimmed  with  a  gay  wreath  of  standing  peacock 
feathers.  His  clothes  are  elaborate  and  numerous. 
First,  a  scarlet  blouse,  over  which  is  a  black  velvet 
sleeveless  garment  or  dress,  buckled  and  belted  with 
silver.  On  his  breast  he  wears  our  shield  on  red 
enamelled  ground,  the  arms  traced  on  it  in  gold. 
Over  all  this  finery  is  thrown  a  great  coat  of  black 
wool-plush  homespun,  fur-lined,  with  a  high  collar, 
and  held  in  place  by  a  nail-studded  belt  of  leather. 

Dimenti 's  well-booted  legs  are  thrust  into  home- 
spun, loose,  felt,  "walinki,"  against  the  cold,  while 


4  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

ice  is  caked  already  on  both  his  mustache  and  his 
beard.  Little  Lucas  wraps  himself  in  a  twin  cloak 
to  Dimenti's,  and  it  entirely  covers  his  smart  blue 
Cossack  costume  with  the  scarlet  sash.  Even  his 
face  and  his  high  astrakhan-trimmed  scarlet  cap  are 
lost  to  sight.  Then  he  tucks  fur  robes  about  us, 
and  we  lean  back  cosily  and  prepare  for  our  sixty- 
two  versts*  drive  in  a  temperature  of  twenty  below 
freezing ! 

The  carriage  steps  are  raised,  doors  slammed  and 
locked,  and  the  horses  plunge  forward  as  Little 
Lucas  reaches  his  perch  and  Dimenti  relaxes  the 
reins.  We  go  like  the  wind  through  the  town  and 
out  over  a  vaguely  marked  road  stretching  across 
the  steppes.  These  are  slightly  rolling  and  white 
with  snow,  upon  which  the  radiant  sun  shines,  and 
here  and  there  a  few  trees  or  a  tiny  village  of  mud 
"hatas"  (peasant  huts)  nestling  in  the  hollows  of 
the  great  plains,  break  the  flat  monotony.  Occa- 
sionally a  man  or  woman,  in  a  great  sheepskin  cloak, 
passes  us  and  bows  low,  bending  from  the  hips  in 
Oriental  fashion,  or  a  child  stares  round-eyed  at 
Dimenti's  and  his  horses'  glory.  We  alarm  chickens 
and  dogs  with  our  clatter,  sometimes,  but  generally 
we  fly  rapidly  over  the  white  silence,  lulled  by  the 
silvery  ringing  of  the  bells  on  our  "douga." 

I  doze  through  the  hours,  rousing  myself  only  at 
the  two  relay  stations,  where  horses  and  stablemen 
from  Bouromka  have  come  to  meet  our  cavalcade. 
We  don't  feel  the  cold  inside  our  furs,  and  at  last 
quite  suddenly  I  awaken  to  the  fact  that  the  sun 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  5 

is  already  very  high,  and  we  have  swung  into  the 
home  village,  with  its  lovely  church  on  the  hilltop, 
and  its  crystal  lake  below.  So  transparent  is  the  ice 
on  the  latter  that  the  children  seem  to  be  skating 
on  a  water  surface,  while  their  homes  round  the  lake 
are  reflected  in  the  natural  mirror.  Peasant  women 
are  washing  clothes  at  a  square-cut  hole  in  the  ice. 
These  clothes  are  wet,  then  pulled  out  of  the  water 
and  trampled  with  heavy-booted  feet,  and  after- 
ward rinsed  again  and  again  till  they  are  clean ! 

The  people  with  their  animals  are  all  concentrated 
in  the  village  at  this  season,  and  the  place  seems 
crowded,  alive,  and  prosperous.  It  has  six  thou- 
sand " souls"  (inhabitants),  and  last  month  forty- 
five  thousand  roubles  were  deposited  in  the  post- 
office  savings-bank !  On  all  sides  I  see  smiles  of 
welcome  and  bows  from  the  hips,  always  dignified 
and  graceful.  We  turn  into  the  park  gates  at  a 
gallop  and  go  full  tilt  up  to  the  great  doors  of  the 
house  where  the  horses  stop  short,  jerked  back  on 
their  haunches  in  Dimenti's  most  approved  fashion. 
Our  horses  are  not  tired,  for  they  are  blooded  stock, 
bred  and  trained  to  their  work  on  the  estates;  and, 
besides,  we  have  had  relays  of  three  each  for  our 
carriage,  and  of  four  for  each  of  the  other  traps, 
making  a  total  of  thirty-three  animals  for  the  trip 
from  the  train  homeward. 

The  park  seems  beautiful  with  its  splendor  of 
ancient  trees  in  winter  garb,  and  the  cMteau  looms 
up,  larger  than  ever — a  very  mountain  of  comfort. 
It  has  grown  with  the  generations  into  a  luxurious 


6  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

salad  of  various  peoples'  tastes — Empire,  Hoch- 
deutch,  Gothic,  and  even  English  styles.  Parts  of 
the  house  are  two  stories  high,  and  parts  are  only 
one,  with  a  tower  containing  five  stories  at  one  end; 
and  on  the  other  side  of  the  house  some  columns 
trim  a  great  terrace  in  the  style  of  1830.  But,  in 
spite  of  mixed,  incongruous  lines,  it  has  a  most 
sympathetic  and  inviting  air. 

There  is  a  great  bustling  as  we  draw  up  in  front 
of  the  wide-swung  double  doors.  Shouts  in  chil- 
dren's voices,  full  of  joy.  The  Princess,  my  mother- 
in-law,  who  is  French,  shows  great  enthusiasm  and 
excitement,  giving  many  orders.  The  servants  are 
quiet  but  smiling,  and  so  numerous  that  they  seem 
to  crowd  one  another,  even  in  this  great  space. 
They  all  precipitate  themselves  to  help  me,  and  I 
am  lifted  almost  bodily  from  the  carriage,  as  they 
tear  out  wraps  and  baggage  with  deft  hands,  and 
rush  everything  into  the  house,  sweeping  along 
Davidka  and  Elene  in  their  midst. 

News  of  the  front  and  of  the  capital  is  asked  for, 
for  Bouromka  is  far  away  and  mails  are  slow  these 
days.  The  head  men  kiss  my  hands  and  ask,  with 
kindly,  genuine  expressions,  after  my  health.  There 
is  old  Moses-Kouzmitch,  nearly  ninety  years  old, 
born  a  serf  in  the  great  Speransky's  time,  who  has 
served  in  the  house  since  he  was  ten  years  old.  He 
still  calls  my  mother-in-law  the  "Young  Princess," 
and  considers  her  somewhat  unlearned  in  the  tra- 
ditions of  the  family.  He  no  longer  works,  but  he 
insists  on  appearing  to  serve  dinner  on  occasions 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  7 

which  he  judges  important,  making  great  difficulties 
then  for  the  young  butler  of  sixty-five,  whom  the 
Princess  brought  from  France,  and  whom  the  elder 
man  considers  a  "childish  outsider,"  after  years  of 
careful  observation. 

Auguste,  who  came  from  Dresden  in  his  youth 
with  my  grandfather-in-law,  as  valet,  is  house- 
steward  now,  with  the  special  function  of  spoiling 
the  children.  He  is  also  a  friend  of  mine  who  has 
rendered  me  many  services  since  the  day  when  he 
came  to  meet  us  at  the  frontier,  with  our  special 
car,  at  the  time  of  our  marriage.  Then  he  travelled 
back  with  us  to  Bouromka,  for  my  first  entrance 
into  its  halls,  and  always  since  he  has  been  my  ally. 

There  are  a  number  more  of  the  head  servants — 
Old  Lucas,  who  has  cleaned  lamps  for  thirty  or  forty 
years,  Tiechon  and  Simeon,  in  Cossack  clothes; 
Kyril,  the  children's  best  friend,  who  can  carve 
fish  and  birds  and  spoons  in  wood  with  his  penknife, 
and  who  sings  and  plays  the  "balalaika'*  with  true 
Russian  talent  and  versatility.  The  children  them- 
selves, an  avalanche  of  arms  and  curls  and  noise, 
rush  upon  us,  asking,  all  at  once  and  breathless: 
Whether  I  have  all  those  Christmas  things  I  prom- 
ised? And  am  I  well?  Where  are  the  trunks? 
And  did  I  remember  all  their  special  errands  ?  How 
nice  I  have  arrived !  And  isn't  the  weather  fine  ? 

After  hugs  and  kisses  I  go  up  the  three  steps  of 
the  anteroom  to  the  Princess,  who,  with  artistic 
instinct  as  to  her  proper  place  in  the  picture,  has 
become  immobilized  on  the  top  step,  and  is  already 


8  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

embracing  my  husband.  I  kiss  her  hand  and  am 
kissed  upon  the  cheek  in  return,  and  she  asks  after 
my  health  and  the  comfort  of  our  trip,  and  whether 
I  have  her  letters  and  newspapers  from  town  ?  And 
are  her  errands  done  ?  I  compliment  her  mien  and 
the  beauty  of  Bouromka  in  its  winter  garb,  and  I 
satisfy  her  as  to  the  letters  and  the  rest. 

Then  I  pass  on  to  the  two  dear  sisters-in-law — one 
tall  and  blonde,  the  other  dainty,  small,  and  dark, 
with  lovely  black  sparkling  eyes.  Warm  devotion 
has  been  our  relation  always,  and  I  am  glad  to  have 
their  affectionate  welcome,  also  that  of  the  two 
charming  men  who  are  their  husbands  and  my 
almost-brothers.  Beyond  in  a  group  of  nephews 
and  nieces,  stand  a  number  of  governesses  (misses 
and  mademoiselles  and  frauleins),  and  at  the  rear 
our  children's  nurse,  who  has  been  my  own  special 
tyrant  for  seventeen  years  past.  Finally  the  enor- 
mous proportions  of  "Grandmother  Anna-Wladi- 
mirovna,"  who,  in  her  best  cap,  surrounded  by  a 
number  of  little  housemaids,  ends  the  reception  line. 

Everywhere  there  are  wood-fires  in  open  grates 
or  in  vast  stoves,  with  the  smell  of  burning  green  pine, 
and  through  huge  windows  the  sun  comes  stream- 
ing gayly.  One  sees  views  that  are  romantic  and 
tranquil  over  the  lake  and  wooded  valley,  which 
form  the  park.  Great  rooms  there  are,  rich  in 
priceless  books  and  paintings,  while  treasures  col- 
lected through  three  hundred  years  fill  cabinets 
scattered  about.  Old  wood-panelled  walls  carved 
in  Bouromka  by  our  own  people,  as  are  also  the 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  9 

marvellously  fine  inlaid  floors,  with  ancient  furniture, 
used  by  many  generations,  worn,  but  still  luxuriously 
comfortable;  splendid  old  porcelains,  silver,  and 
bronzes  complete  the  house,  itself  built  by  our  serfs 
of  home-made  bricks.  Carpets  and  laces  woven  by 
peasant  women's  hands  add  a  dainty  note  here  and 
there  to  the  picture. 

Everything  is  the  slow  growth  of  centuries  of 
family  life,  and  an  atmosphere  of  delightful  civiliza- 
tion pervades  it  all.  The  village  people  who  work 
in  the  chateau  partake  of  its  tone  and  air.  From 
generation  to  generation  they  have  belonged  to  us 
and  to  it,  and  their  pride  is  in  their  service,  which 
is  intelligent  and  willing.  They  speak  of  every- 
thing as  "ours,"  and,  taking  part  in  our  lives,  they 
expect  us  to  enter  into  theirs.  It  is  all  a  typically 
Russian  scene,  and  this  whole  frame  of  life  lacks 
completely  cold  or  classic  style,  but  is  brimming 
over  instead  with  sentiment.  It  is  rich  in  kindliness 
and  in  patriarchal  hospitality  built  on  generous 
lines. 

With  Christmas  Eve,  excitement  in  the  chateau 
culminates.  Guests  arrive,  our  neighbors,  coming 
from  their  estates,  the  frontiers  of  which  touch  ours 
next  door — meaning  fifteen  miles  or  so  away.  They 
look  and  act  as  if  they  had  just  stepped  from  one 
of  Gogol's  novels.  One  is  General  Paul-Karlovitch 
Lange,  who  was  an  aide-de-camp  years  ago  to  the 
old  Grand  Duke  Michael-Nicholaievitch,  in  the  gay 
days  when  the  latter  was  Viceroy  of  the  Caucasus 
(about  1870).  He  was  decorated  for  bravery  on  the 


10  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

field  during  the  Turkish  War;  and  now  at  the  age 
of  seventy-five,  though  a  little  bent  and  slow  of 
movement,  Paul-Karlovitch's  eyes  twinkle  mer- 
rily behind  his  big  spectacles,  and  his  florid  round 
face  is  most  agreeable  still.  He  is  courteous,  accom- 
plished, and  altogether  willing  to  add  to  the  gen- 
eral fun,  and  one  readily  understands  the  rumor 
that  his  road  through  life  has  been  strewn  with 
broken  hearts. 

His  widowed  sister,  who  came  with  him,  is  rolling 
in  fat,  and  wears  a  round  skirt,  loose  jacket,  flat 
shoes  with  silver  buckles,  and  heavy  white  woollen 
stockings.  Nothing  on  her  is  stiff  or  tight,  and  the 
children  adore  her  and  go  to  her  naturally — she  is 
so  maternal.  In  fact,  we  all  love  her  almost  as 
much  as  they  do,  for  her  charm  is  as  potent  as  her 
brother's,  and  they  are  both  simple  and  sincere. 
They  have  come  to  us  with  children  and  grand- 
children, and  an  English  governess,  to  reinforce  our 
large  group,  and  the  house  is  full  now  with  gay  talk, 
and  songs,  and  laughter,  and  little  running  feet. 
The  guests  join  in  trimming  the  rooms  with  green 
branches,  brought  in  fresh-picked  from  the  forest, 
and  in  arranging  the  gifts  on  the  Christmas  tree. 
There  is  great  gayety  in  unpacking  all  my  purchases, 
choosing  the  various  presents  and  doing  up  the 
bundles;  and,  as  usual  in  such  cases,  everything  is 
lost  and  found  many  times  over,  to  be  finally,  by 
the  united  efforts  of  the  crowd,  put  each  in  its  right 
place  for  the  f£te. 

In  all  this  the  guests  are  as  busy  as  we  are,  and 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  11 

just  as  interested;  and  old  Paul-Karloviteh  and  his 
sister  tell  us  how  they  came  to  play  at  Bouromka 
when  they  were  babies,  with  their  parents,  who  vis- 
ited my  husband's  grandmother. 

The  phonograph  alternates  with  the  piano.  Of 
course  lessons  are  tabooed,  and  the  children  play  a 
pantomime  and  dance  a  ballet  for  us;  and,  compli- 
mented duly,  they  are  feeling  most  proud  of  their 
success. 

The  tree  is  finally  ready,  and  all  the  vast  house- 
hold pours  into  the  great  hall  that  it  lights  up  so 
well.  The  servants  are  a  joy  to  see  with  their 
radiant  faces;  especially  the  dozen  or  so  young 
under  housemaids,  who  are  dressed  in  pretty  na- 
tional costumes  and  look  like  lovely  dolls.  Red, 
blue,  and  green-flowered  skirts,  full-sleeved,  hand- 
embroidered  blouses  they  wear,  with  necklaces  of 
varied  beads  hanging  from  chin  to  bosom  in  masses, 
with  twenty  or  more  long  streamers  of  different- 
colored  ribbons  tying  these  behind  at  their  necks. 
They  wear  flowers  in  large  crowns  about  smooth- 
brushed  heads,  and,  with  their  young,  fresh  faces, 
are  as  decorative  as  the  tree  itself. 

"Grandmother  Anna-Wladimirovna"  sits  regally 
presiding,  with  a  huge  clothes-basket  full  of  cakes 
on  her  left,  and  a  pendant  basket  on  her  right, 
which  is  filled  with  multi-colored  boxes  of  sweets 
for  all  the  retainers.  Presents  for  the  children  are 
scattered  about  in  piles,  and  for  us  grown-ups  a 
large  table  groans  under  its  load  of  them.  It  is  the 
reign  of  music  and  good  cheer,  song,  dance,  and 


12  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

light.  Our  men  are  all  here  from  the  trenches,  and 
the  boys  are  back  from  their  city  schools.  Every 
one  has  been  working  through  the  hard  long  year  of 
1915  to  help  the  army  win  the  war,  and  all  have 
suffered ;  so  now  we  feel  we  have  a  right  to  these  few 
days  of  rest  and  plenty;  and  we  enjoy  them  to  the 
full,  forgetting  the  past  strain.  To-morrow  we 
must  again  take  up  our  burdens;  but  we  shall  then 
have  at  least  the  memory  of  this  glowing  family 
f£te  to  help  us  live. 

Christmas  Day  there  is  a  beautiful  religious  ser- 
vice in  the  church,  where  from  our  loge  we  look 
down  on  all  the  peasants  gathered  there,  devoutly 
praying.  Then  there  is  a  feast  at  table,  with  the 
priest  and  the  intendants  invited — the  bigwigs  of 
our  estate.  After  that,  for  a  few  days  there  are 
dancing,  riding,  sleighing,  skating,  skiing,  and  hunt- 
ing in  the  old  classic  Russian  manner,  with  low 
sledges  and  the  borzoi-hounds.  The  older  people 
sit  about  the  house,  playing  bridge  or  talking  end- 
lessly, and  with  a  brilliancy  no  other  race  could 
put  into  its  conversation — anecdotes  and  experiences 
covering  three  or  four  reigns,  quotations  from  the 
best  literature  of  two  or  three  languages,  sallies  of 
wit,  gay,  light-hearted  laughter,  with  no  effort  or 
ceremony  at  all. 

Only  too  quickly  it  came  to  an  end  and  the 
party  scattered !  Our  neighbors  went  back  to  their 
home  interests,  our  men  to  the  three  fronts,  where 
each  had  his  service — my  husband  commanding  the 
Cuirassiers  on  the  Polish  front,  one  brother-in-law 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  13 

to  staff  work  in  Galicia,  and  the  other  joining  the 
brigade  he  was  attached  to  on  the  Persian  frontier. 
The  boys  returned  to  their  schools  in  the  capital, 
and  we  women  were  left  to  take  up  our  quiet  round 
of  duties  and  anxieties  again — the  Princess,  my 
sisters-in-law,  and  I,  with  our  younger  children  only. 

I  lingered  on  through  several  months  that  year, 
perhaps  with  the  instinctive  feeling  that  this  would 
be  my  last  stay  of  any  length  in  the  old  family  home. 
My  mother-in-law  had  decided  to  spend  her  entire 
winter  at  Bouromka  for  the  war  work  she  had  begun, 
and  we  younger  members  of  the  family  kept  her 
company  in  turn  for  what  time  we  could.  Our 
group  included  also  the  family  doctor — a  kindly 
woman,  very  fat,  but  as  intelligent  as  she  was  big, 
who  helped  us  make  the  talk  entirely  cheerful  about 
the  hearth  in  the  Princess's  small,  red-brocaded  salon, 
where  we  sat  during  the  long,  cold  winter  evenings. 
In  spite  of  the  war,  it  seems  to  me,  I  never  before 
felt  our  country  so  rich  and  prosperous,  and  I  was 
greatly  interested  in  comparing  this  Russia  of  1916 
with  the  Russia  of  1899  I  had  found  on  my  arrival 
as  a  bride. 

In  the  old  days  the  village  had  miserable  huts, 
or  "hatas,"  composed  of  mud,  and  built  on  crooked 
lines,  with  tiny  holes  for  windows,  and  crumbling 
roofs  of  straw  or  reeds,  which  were  badly  thatched, 
and  were  disturbed  by  every  wind.  The  people 
fifteen  years  before  looked  white  and  thin,  and  were 
never  sufficiently  covered;  and,  though  there  were 
masses  of  children,  the  mortality  was  very  great 


14  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

among  them,  and  many  were  deformed  or  scrofulous. 
One's  heart  ached  to  see  their  poor  pinched  faces 
and  meagre  little  bodies. 

The  peasants  were  all  in  debt  also  in  the  olden 
days,  and  were  more  or  less  sodden  with  "vodka," 
which  was  the  only  consolation  for  their  misery, 
and  incidentally  was  the  greatest  source  of  revenue 
in  our  government's  budget.  Every  man  culti- 
vated just  enough  of  the  "commune's"  land  to  pay 
his  debt  to  Rabinovitch,  the  usurer,  and  to  have  a 
little  poor  grain  left  over,  barely  enough  to  keep 
the  family  alive.  They  were  a  gentle  people  always, 
but  sad,  inert,  and  dull  from  drink  and  poverty; 
and  they  were  without  a  care  for  the  morrow  only 
because  fighting  to-day's  difficulties  took  all  their 
strength. 

When  I  first  saw  Bouromka  village  I  was  filled 
with  pity,  in  spite  of  the  charming  scenery  and  its 
picturesque  traditions.  Even  in  the  fields,  in  1899, 
the  people  seemed  entirely  helpless  to  dominate 
Nature,  or  to  draw  her  riches  from  her.  They  were 
armed  with  the  most  primitive  wooden  ploughs, 
and  with  other  instruments  which  looked  biblical 
in  epoch,  and  which  were  really  not  fit  tools  for 
use  in  the  greatest  agricultural  district  of  the  world. 
Sad  and  hopeless  these  people  seemed,  though  when- 
ever they  moved  from  the  surroundings  of  their 
village,  they  made  good  at  once,  and  would  awake 
and  shake  themselves.  Those  who  were  in  our 
house  or  employed  on  the  estate,  for  instance, 
rapidly  grew  alert  and  clever,  nearly  always  made 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  15 

and  saved  money,  enjoyed  life,  and  sang  over  then- 
duties,  doing  us  service  and  showing  us  a  devotion 
such  as  in  all  my  wanderings  in  many  countries  I 
had  never  seen  before. 

In  time  I  attributed  our  peasantry's  faults  (and 
their  woes)  to  three  things — the  long  generations  of 
serfage,  the  parasite  money-lenders,  and  the  vodka 
plague.  Yet,  even  at  the  lowest  ebb,  the  Little- 
Russians  were  kindly  folks,  full  of  sentiment  and  the 
love  of  beautiful  things — music  especially;  only  they 
had  no  energy  or  will  power,  and  were  so  childish 
that  despair  overcame  one's  patience  in  trying  to 
do  them  good. 

The  first  step  forward  I  saw  them  take  was  at 
the  time  of  the  Russian- Japanese  War,  when  the 
mobilization  orders  called  out  the  first  reservists, 
and  Bouromka's  contingent  of  one  hundred  men  or 
so  left  us.  I  accompanied  my  mother-in-law  to  the 
village  square  the  day  these  soldiers  were  collected 
and  marched  off.  We  drove  to  the  tumble-down 
little  town  hall  and  stood  on  its  balcony  while  the 
priest  said  a  mass  for  the  departing  men.  Natur- 
ally they  were  the  pick  of  the  village,-  fine  young 
fellows,  who  had  kept  something  of  the  well-set-up 
look  due  to  their  military  training.  As  they  stood 
listening  to  the  service  with  bared  heads,  their  sob- 
bing women  clinging  to  them  and  their  babies  in 
their  arms,  one  felt  the  fine  primitive  strength  and 
beauty  and  the  possible  real  value  in  this  race.  I 
think  most  of  them  had  no  notion  of  the  war's 
reasons  or  conditions,  save  only  that  they  were 


16  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

going  very  far  to  serve  their  Little  Father,  the  Czar. 
Where  anything  was  understood,  the  war  was 
unpopular;  but  our  Bouromka  people,  as  I  saw 
them,  were  only  unhappy  to  go  away,  while  per- 
fectly docile,  as  always,  to  do  a  vague  master's 
bidding. 

After  the  religious  ceremony  the  soldiers  came 
toward  us,  and  my  mother-in-law  and  I  put  about 
the  neck  of  each  man  a  red  cord,  upon  which  hung 
a  small  silver  "icon"  to  protect  him  from  danger. 
As  we  did  this,  each  one  kissed  his  medal  and  our 
hands  before  hiding  the  present  in  his  shirt.  I  saw 
one  remove  his  and  hang  it  round  the  neck  of  the 
pretty  curly-headed  child  he  was  handing  back  into 
its  mother's  arms.  Then  there  were  hurried,  sad 
good-bys;  the  women  wept,  and  the  men,  as  always, 
were  dignified,  quiet,  and  full  of  gentleness.  Finally 
they  were  lined  up  and  marched  off  down  the  dusty 
highroad,  following  a  row  of  peasant  carts  which 
carried  the  small  square  bundles  of  their  baggage, 
as  much  as  the  law  would  allow  each  man. 

After  this  mobilization  our  village  settled  back 
into  its  lethargy;  but  as  times  grew  bad  from  the 
war,  the  elders  among  our  peasants  made  up  a 
committee  to  look  after  those  women  who  had  no 
protectors  or  workers  to  supply  them  with  food  and 
fuel.  They  named  my  mother-in-law  "president," 
and  the  meetings,  held  in  the  chateau  dining-room, 
were  intensely  interesting  to  me.  The  strange 
simplicity  and  the  extreme  common  sense  these  men 
displayed  were  remarkable,  both  in  discovering  and 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  17 

aiding  real  misery,  and  in  showing  up  imposture  of 
any  sort.  The  assembled  group,  as  they  sat,  looked 
like  one  of  Holbein's  paintings. 

The  Japanese  War  certainly  drew  us  nearer  to 
our  people  than  the  chateau  had  been  since  the  days 
of  the  serfs,  and  my  husband's  grandmother;  for, 
in  admiration  of  the  effort  the  village  was  making, 
our  estate  doubled  the  funds  raised  by  the  com- 
mittee, and  the  Princess  also  helped  the  people  in 
small  ways,  sending  milk  to  ill  babies  and  giving 
flour  or  other  provisions  to  the  women  or  the  older 
elements  who  were  in  need.  Good  feeling  became 
noticeable,  and  it  was  then  I  had  my  first  impression 
of  the  population  of  Bouromka  as  a  mass  of  think- 
ing humanity. 

By  1905  and  1906  this  awakening  had  partly  worn 
off.  The  revolutionary  movement  was  slow  in 
reaching  us,  for  we  were  far  from  factory  centres 
and  from  railroads;  and  our  peasants  were  only 
roused  at  last  by  a  group  of  student-propagandists, 
who  came  and  settled  in  the  village,  made  inflam- 
matory speeches,  and  finally  spread  the  news  that 
the  Emperor  was  imprisoned  by  the  bureaucrats  in 
St.  Petersburg,  and  that  he  begged  his  people  to 
come  and  liberate  him !  This  started  demonstra- 
tions and  disorder.  Our  intendant  took  fright  and 
fled,  abandoning  the  estates;  but  even  then  nothing 
was  really  done  in  the  way  of  anarchy,  save  the 
burning  of  some  haystacks.  There  were  meetings 
though;  and  noisy  crowds,  half  drunk,  were  threat- 
ening the  estate  with  destruction.  We  asked  for 


18  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

government  protection  and  obtained  twenty-five 
Cossacks,  who  came  and  settled  down  in  our  stable 
courtyards  to  do  guard  and  police  work  at  our  order 
and  expense,  and  on  our  responsibility. 

The  family  all  went  to  Bouromka  as  usual  that 
year — 1905 — relaying  one  another  through  the  sum- 
mer months.  We  gave  out  that  everything  should 
be  as  heretofore,  and  that  we  would  give  our  peasants 
work  through  the  harvest  time  at  the  usual  wages. 
The  Princess  had  them  also  informed  that  the  Em- 
peror was  safe  and  not  in  prison,  and  that  the  propa- 
gandists who  had  told  these  lies  were  paid  to  make 
trouble  in  the  land.  As  we  had  always  kept  up 
good  relations  with  the  village,  and  had  lived  among 
our  people,  she  said  we  meant  to  go  on  the  same 
old  way;  but  my  mother-in-law  added,  though  she 
greatly  respected  the  village  always,  if,  after  all 
she  had  done  and  said,  there  were  still  those  among 
the  peasantry  who  did  us  harm,  and  who  burned 
or  injured  our  property,  the  Cossacks  were  here  to 
execute  justice;  and  she  would,  if  necessary,  fire  the 
village  to  revenge  any  attack  on  the  chateau ! 

It  sounded  very  ferocious.  For  a  time  we  did  not 
go  outside  the  park  gates  without  armed  outriders 
to  accompany  us;  and  always  we  kept  our  revolvers 
in  our  pockets,  while  sentinels  stood  at  various  points 
in  and  about  the  house.  The  people  looked  some- 
what surly  at  first,  and  made  sullen  accusations 
against  the  old  intendant,  whom  they  had  hated,  it 
appeared.  I  was  glad  the  children  had  not  been 
brought  with  us  into  what  might  become  a  hornet's 
nest.  But  time  passed  and  village  workmen  came  to 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  19 

their  usual  work  in  our  fields  and  shops,  the  house 
servants  remained  loyal  all  through  the  difficulty, 
and  gradually  we  saw  the  leaders  of  the  revolution- 
ary movement  relaxing  their  hold,  and  our  childish 
peasantry  resuming  old,  quiet  ways. 

The  Cossacks  stayed  with  us  about  six  months, 
and  after  the  first  third  of  that  time  they  were 
purely  ornamental;  became,  in  fact,  vastly  popular 
guests  in  the  village,  where  half  a  dozen  of  them 
settled  down  definitely  and  married  girls  from  our 
own  place.  Within  two  years  some  few  of  the 
most  revolutionary  spirits  were  made  our  head 
machinists  or  aid  intendants,  and  they  espoused 
our  side  of  most  questions  thereafter,  recognizing 
that  it  was  the  right  one  as  against  outside  propa- 
ganda. So  the  first  revolution  died  down  in  our 
province  without  ever  having  caused  us  more  than 
passing  inconvenience;  and  it  left  us  a  closer  under- 
standing with  our  peasantry  than  had  existed  for  a 
long  time. 

I  talked  with  many  others  among  the  big  land- 
owners in  our  part  of  Russia,  and  nearly  all  told  me 
a  tale  of  experiences  similar  to  ours.  Those  near 
railroads  or  in  factory  districts  suffered  more,  how- 
ever, than  we  did;  and  where  the  administration  of 
estates  had  been  left  entirely  to  superintendents, 
and  there  were  no  personal  relations  between  the 
proprietor  and  his  dependents  in  the  village,  there 
invariably  had  been  serious  trouble,  and  a  certain 
amount  of  destruction  as  well,  hard  to  forget  or 
forgive. 

Soon  after  this,  perhaps  with  the  return  of  the 


20  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

soldiers  from  Manchuria,  there  was  a  further  stir- 
ring of  our  people's  mental  faculties.  It  was  like 
a  breath  of  fresh  air  let  into  a  room  where  heavi- 
ness had  reigned  before.  A  new  school  was  built 
in  the  village,  so  that  there  was  one  now  belonging 
to  the  church,  and  another  under  the  direction  of 
the  Ministry  of  Education.  Later  a  new  priest  re- 
placed our  old  one,  who  had  died  or  moved  else- 
where, and  a  new  doctor  came.  Which  of  these  in- 
novations brought  the  change  I  cannot  say,  but  it 
came  on  through  the  years  from  1907  to  1914. 

My  brother-in-law  and  my  husband  took  over  the 
administration  of  the  estates  about  then,  and  im- 
provements were  introduced,  with  an  intensive  cul- 
tivation, better  machinery,  finer  results  and  larger 
wages;  and  outside,  round  us  in  the  peasant  fields, 
one  saw  a  reflection  of  our  efforts.  Their  land  was 
better  worked  also,  and  the  "mujiki"  came  and 
bought  from  us  at  lowered  prices  the  metal  ploughs 
we  were  selling  off  with  also  other  farming  instru- 
ments. 

Instead  of  threshing  by  hand,  they  bought  in 
common  for  the  village,  first  a  horse-worked  thresh- 
ing-machine, and  then  they  made  the  proud  acqui- 
sition of  a  steam  threshing-machine,  which  was  soon 
followed  by  two  more  of  the  same  kind !  The  fur- 
rows made  by  the  new  methods  grew  deeper,  while 
crops  became  heavier  with  intelligent  fertilizing. 
They  purchased  grain  for  sowing  from  us  and  took 
the  best  we  had.  Then  they  brought  their  wheat  to 
our  motor-run  mill,  leaving  their  primitive  windmills 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  21 

as  ornamental  notes  in  the  landscape.  The  village 
itself  looked  more  civilized.  New  houses  were  being 
built  on  straighter  lines,  and  these  grew  gay  with 
carved  wooden  trimmings,  such  as  windows  with 
frames  and  even  shutters  on  them,  or  gayly  painted 
doors  with  tiny  balconies. 

A  number  of  very  advanced  people  even  put  tin 
roofs  on  their  homes,  buying  the  materials  from  our 
shops  at  cost  prices,  and  painting  them  green  or 
red.  Now  and  then  the  hatas  grew  quite  large, 
with  two  rooms,  or  even  three;  while  the  village 
cattle  were  sleek,  and  many  a  yard  boasted  trees, 
which  were  offered  free  of  charge  by  the  chateau 
nurseries.  It  was  the  dawn  of  a  new  epoch;  and 
into  their  songs,  which  had  been  so  sad  before,  the 
peasantry  introduced  the  gayer  notes  of  soldier 
melodies,  brought  back  from  Siberian  bivouac  or 
camp. 

Bouromka  seemed  to  me  much  more  livable  in 
its  atmosphere  from  then  on.  I  liked  the  awak- 
ened feeling.  It  made  one  want  to  help  people  who 
were  trying  so  hard  to  find  their  way.  Under  Sto- 
lypin's  guidance  came  the  land  reforms,  which  made 
the  reputation  of  the  young  Minister  of  Agriculture, 
Krivaschene.  These  were  not  yet  carried  out  all 
over  Russia,  but  our  province  of  Poltava  was  one 
of  those  that  chiefly  benefited. 

By  the  new  arrangement,  instead  of  owning  the 
land  in  common  and  working  it  together — so  the 
worthless  cultivator  of  the  soil  drew  on  the  energy 
of  his  stronger  brother — each  peasant  individually 


22  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

owned  his  own  field  now,  and  it  received  the  full 
advantage  of  his  personal  efforts.  This  scheme 
worked  like  magic.  At  once  the  people  awoke  to 
their  possibilities.  They  came  and  studied  our 
methods  and  went  home  to  copy  us.  Their  crops 
were  better  and  better,  while,  of  course,  they  grew 
rich  apace.  They  had  reserve  of  grain  put  by,  and 
it  soon  required  close  care  to  recognize  where  our 
fields  ended  and  the  fine  ones  of  the  peasantry  began. 

The  Princess  gradually  became  interested  in  her 
people  and  helped  them  in  many  ways,  the  best  of 
which  was  in  founding  a  small  free  pharmacy.  In 
the  hands  of  our  house  doctor — a  recent  graduate 
of  the  Pasteur  Institute,  in  Paris — it  gave  most  ex- 
cellent results.  She — the  doctor — was  a  Russian 
by  birth  and  devoted  to  her  country,  and  she  was 
glad  also  to  have  such  an  opportunity  for  experi- 
ence. She  grappled  most  successfully  with  the  vari- 
ous evils  to  which  our  poor  population  was  heir, 
and  the  villagers  for  miles  round  adored  fat,  com- 
forting Olga-Ivanovna,  with  her  intelligent  face  and 
healing  hands.  She  did  immense  good,  and  loved 
her  patients  dearly  after  a  few  months  of  residence 
among  us;  and  soon  they  were  bringing  her  all  their 
troubles,  mental  and  moral  as  well  as  physical. 

By  the  time  the  great  war  came  (in  1914)  our 
village  of  Bouromka  had  grown  beyond  recognition. 
The  population  was  doubled  and  lived  in  coquettish 
homes,  real  ornaments  to  the  lovely  landscape, 
while  smiling  faces  were  constantly  seen,  and  there 
were  round  rosy  babies  everywhere.  Money  was 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  23 

saved,  and,  best  of  all,  only  one  of  the  vampire  vil- 
lage usurers  remained,  the  others  having  moved  to 
more  profitable  spheres,  leaving  the  business  of  three 
or  four  shops,  recently  sprung  up,  in  the  hands  of 
our  own  Russians.  It  was  hard  to  say  just  how  the 
change  had  come,  but  certainly  it  was  a  very  marked 
one.  Though  there  was  still  vodka,  it  was  much 
less  felt  than  before,  and  the  faces  about  us  were  no 
longer  inert  or  sodden. 

Every  one  hated  the  Germans;  so  this  war  was 
popular,  and  the  mobilization  was  not  so  sad  as  in 
1904.  The  front  was  not  far  off,  as  in  the  old  war, 
and  the  men  would  be  able  to  write,  and  perhaps 
even  come  back  on  leave  occasionally.  Large 
groups  of  reserves  and  recruits  were  gathered  in, 
who  went  off  singing  to  the  frontier,  while  the  old 
committee  reformed,  my  mother-in-law  presiding 
over  its  meetings  as  before.  This  time  it  was  much 
easier  for  them  to  arrange  matters,  as  the  peasants 
had  grown  rich.  First,  in  their  own  right,  the 
women  had  means,  for  the  government  was  paying 
every  soldier's  wife  a  small  pension  in  the  absence 
of  her  natural  supporter;  and  this  allowance  increased 
in  rising  proportion  according  to  the  number  of  her 
children. 

Then  the  land  of  all  these  women  was  pooled  and 
was  cultivated  for  them  by  those  men  remaining  in 
the  village,  or  by  Austrian  prisoners  who  were  hired 
out  to  help.  This  arrangement  brought  more  money 
than  usual  to  the  small-proprietor  peasantry;  and 
suddenly  our  village  matrons  found  themselves,  for 


24  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Holy  Russia,  inde- 
pendent, managing  their  own  homes  and  lands  al- 
most as  they  saw  fit.  With  new  clothes,  and  boots, 
and  ribbons,  they  made  a  splendid  show  at  church 
and  in  the  market-place;  but  even  with  all  their 
extravagance  of  finery,  they  still  had.  large  savings 
in  the  bank. 

In  spite  of  the  sorrows  we  had  suffered  during  the 
past  spring  and  summer — 1915 — with  the  retreat  of 
our  armies,  and  in  spite  also  of  our  keen  anxiety  as 
to  the  future  possibilities  in  the  political  situation 
fast  darkening,  the  atmosphere  in  our  province 
during  the  spring  of  1916  raised  my  hopes  and  made 
me  believe  that  all  might  yet  be  well.  Never  had 
our  people  seemed  so  gay,  so  prosperous,  and  so 
full  of  energy.  For  eighteen  months  vodka  had  not 
existed,  health  was  renewed  and  spirits  were  high. 
It  was  a  question  to  me,  as  I  watched  them,  whether 
all  the  matrons  of  Bouromka  were  not  growing  too 
large  in  their  own  estimation  and  their  new-found 
power,  whether  when  their  spouses  reappeared  on 
the  horizon  and  claimed  ancient  rights  and  privileges, 
almost  Oriental,  these  might  not  meet  with  refusal 
of  obedience  and  of  the  old  traditional  service  ? 
How  would  our  soldier-men  put  up  with  new  ideas  ? 
Would  they  give  way  to  the  rule  of  these  unconscious 
suffragettes?  Or  would  they  prove  themselves 
masters  in  their  homes  by  brute  force  ? 

The  women,  in  the  men's  absence,  were  doing  all 
sorts  of  masculine  work,  both  in  the  village  and  on 
our  estates.  Young  Amazons  cleaned  and  fed  the 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  25 

horses  in  our. stables,  under  the  orders  of  two  or 
three  head  coachmen,  too  old  to  be  mobilized,  who 
were  all  that  remained  of  the  usual  staff.  Women, 
with  small  boys  to  help,  had  brought  in  the  harvest 
for  two  years  now,  and  had  been  paid  men's  wages 
for  their  work.  Dressed  in  trousers  and  heavily 
booted,  they  even  went  that  winter  into  the  forests 
with  our  sleds,  to  bring  the  cut  fuel-wood  and  the 
building  lumber  out,  and  they  managed  their  teams 
with  consummate  skill.  They  had  tided  us  over  two 
years  of  war,  and  kept  the  country  in  our  parts  of 
Russia  at  its  maximum  power  of  production,  so  the 
armies  could  be  fed. 

On  our  estate  about  eighty  Austrian  prisoners — 
and  in  the  village  about  fifty  more — did  special 
work,  as  builders,  machinists,  and  so  on.  We  had 
no  Germans;  for,  having  tried  them,  after  endless 
difficulties  we  had  sent  them  away.  Those  of  the 
southern  enemy's  country,  on  the  contrary,  frater- 
nized with  our  own  people  easily,  and  were  polite, 
good-natured,  and  grateful.  Paid  much  less  than 
other  workmen,  but  fed,  housed,  and  clothed  com- 
fortably, their  coming  among  us  was  a  wise  solution 
of  the  government's  problem  to  take  care  of  so  many 
captured  men;  also  it  solved  the  problem  of  carry- 
ing on  the  nation's  life  agriculturally. 

It  seemed  strange  after  months  of  war,  to  find  the 
southern  villages  working,  living,  and  singing  with 
more  intensity  than  ever  before !  I  was  so  inter- 
ested in  the  phenomena  that  I  studied  our  pro- 
vincial frame  with  great  curiosity,  and  I  went 


26  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

into  details  as  if  the  place  had  been  in  my  own 
hands  for  administration.  Not  only  were  the 
women  awake  and  working  for  themselves,  but  in 
the  Princess's  lace  and  carpet  school  the  attendance 
was  much  better  than  heretofore.  Then  the  older 
men  of  the  town  had  organized  the  general  provi- 
sioning so  intelligently  that  they  held  extra  grain  to 
sell.  Children  in  the  schools  showed  themselves 
excellent  pupils  as  compared  with  ancient  times, 
and  they  had  learned  pieces  and  games  for  their 
celebration  of  the  Christmas  festival,  which  we  at- 
tended, as  if  they  had  been  cultivated  and  progres- 
sive for  generations  past. 

The  priest  came  to  see  us  one  day,  and  during  a 
long  talk  I  discovered  he  had  in  his  care  twelve 
thousand  roubles,  the  savings  of  the  villagers,  while 
thirty-five  thousand  more  reposed  at  the  post- 
office.  Also,  he  said  there  was  an  effort  on  foot  to 
replace  the  public  vodka  shop  with  a  sort  of  peo- 
ple's amusement  hall,  and  he  wanted  us  to  give  the 
land  and  building  for  this  use,  the  village  to  con- 
tribute the  work  of  installation.  It  was  to  be  used 
for  theatricals,  played  by  the  villagers,  and  for  con- 
certs and  lectures,  or  a  travelling  movie  show  now 
and  again !  Of  course  we  entered  heartily  into  his 
scheme,  and  soon  I  began  to  realize  that  this  priest, 
who  had  come  to  us  full  of  zeal  only  two  years  or 
so  before,  was  the  worker  of  many  miracles  I  had 
witnessed. 

Instead  of  being  the  browbeaten,  miserable  crea- 
ture the  Russian  village  priest  generally  was,  this 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  27 

one  was  a  man  of  great  energy  and  faith,  who  had 
used  the  events  of  the  moment  to  draw  his  people 
to  him,  and  into  a  path  of  progress,  in  which  he 
rightly  saw  their  only  chance  of  development.  He 
and  his  wife  lived  among  their  flock  in  mind  and 
soul  as  well  as  body;  and  they  preached  more  by  their 
example  than  in  words.  His  services  in  church  were 
as  short  as  the  law  allowed,  and  were  better  attend- 
ed than  those  of  olden  days  had  been.  On  Janu- 
ary 6,  for  the  "Feast  of  the  Three  Kings,"  when  all 
over  Russia  the  waters  are  blessed,  he  had  made 
every  one  of  the  villagers  take  an  interested  part  in 
the  ceremonies.  A  great  crystal  house  of  ice  was 
sparkling  on  the  village  lake  for  days,  which  had 
been  built  as  a  chapel  by  willing  hands,  amid  laugh- 
ter and  singing,  under  the  father's  eye. 

He  told  me  of  two  cases  where  a  "mauvais  sujet" 
of  the  village  had  been  reformed  by  war.  The 
dangers  on  the  firing-line  had  sobered  these  men 
and  made  them  think,  said  "Batioushka"  ("Little 
Father,"  the  title  used  in  speaking  to  our  Russian 
priests),  and  they  had  come  back  to  confession  at 
their  first  leave  from  the  front.  One,  who  had 
money,  had  even  bought  two  new  banners  for  the 
church  processionals,  and  with  these  he  had  come 
humbly  one  day  to  the  altar  during  the  Sunday 
mass,  saying  he  wished  to  make  public  avowal  of 
his  sins  and  reparation  to  the  church  before  going 
out  to  fight  again.  Till  now  he  drank  and  spent 
his  money  as  he  should  not  have  done,  he  said; 
and  he  offered  these  banners  as  a  gauge  of  reform ! 


28  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

"No,  .Highness;  this  war  is  our  great  opportunity; 
it  has  suppressed  our  worst  enemy — the  drink;  it 
has  awakened  our  people  and  made  them  think;  it 
has  given  the  women  work  and  independence,  and 
brought  us  riches  through  the  wise  financial  arrange- 
ments of  the  government;  and  suddenly  we  are 
civilized !" 

And  it  was  really  true ;  but  not  many  villages  had 
as  their  pastor  a  man  so  capable  of  leading  them. 
I  was  enchanted  with  what  I  discovered,  and  I  took 
great  pleasure  in  writing  to  one  or  two  Cabinet  min- 
isters the  impressions  of  their  work  which  one  got 
when  one  stood  far  off.  The  echo  of  their  efforts 
rang  clear  in  our  province.  ...  I  discovered  they 
felt  very  grateful  for  the  news  I  gave  them,  and  one 
of  them  even  asked  me  for  details  as  to  special  facts 
connected  with  the  people's  needs. 

In  the  midst  of  their  discouragements  in  the  cap- 
ital, where  they  were  at  war  with  the  hideous 
occult  propaganda,  already  flourishing  at  court, 
such  patriots  as  were  our  liberal-minded  ministers  in 
1916  were  glad  to  know  that  some  group  was  aided 
by  their  thought  and  care,  and  that  from  all  their 
planting,  somewhere  fruits  were  grown.  Each  one 
of  them  complained  to  me  of  the  terrible  and  radical 
difficulty  in  a  scheme  of  government  so  centralized 
that  much  of  their  labor  was  necessarily  lost.  Never 
could  they  see  results  or  divine  needs;  and,  at  best, 
they  were  in  the  hands  of  provincial  officials  who 
might  be  good,  bad,  or  indifferent,  truthful  or  not 
in  their  reports. 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  29 

Once,  toward  the  winter's  end,  I  had  a  most 
delightfully  interesting  experience.  I  had  gone  to 
Kief,  spending  two  days  with  my  husband,  who, 
being  sent  there  on  military  business,  from  the  front, 
had  wired  me  to  meet  him.  The  day  before  I  was 
to  return  to  Bouromka,  a  telegram  from  my  mother- 
in-law  told  me  that  the  usual  road  from  our  rail- 
road station  to  the  chateau  was  impracticable,  as 
a  bridge  had  broken  down.  Would  I,  therefore,  in- 
stead of  the  habitual  express-train  to  Lubny,  take 
the  more  roundabout  and  complicated  route  from 
Kief  to  a  small  station  called  Palmyra  ?  Of  course 
I  had  to  do  it;  and  I  started  at  five  o'clock  (before 
daylight)  the  following  day,  hoping  to  dine  at 
home  that  evening. 

It  was  cold,  and  heavy  snow  covered  the  ground, 
but  a  clear  sky  promised  for  a  later  cheerful,  sunny 
day.  .  .  .  About  two  in  the  afternoon  I  reached 
the  small  junction  where  I  must  change  trains,  and 
I  found  the  station  building  overflowing  with  refu- 
gees from  Poland,  mostly  Israelites,  and — judging 
by  their  aspects — fairly  prosperous  ones.  Probably 
the  unhappy  creatures  came  from  the  small  provin- 
cial towns  fallen  recently  into  the  enemy's  hands. 
They  all  had  large  families,  and  seemed  to  have  ready 
money  in  their  pockets;  but  there  were  such  num- 
bers that  they  and  their  effects  were  piled  up  every- 
where, and  the  countless  children  scrambled  over 
furniture,  trunks,  bags,  and  bundles,  even  in  the 
first-class  waiting-room.  Everything  had  been  eaten 
from  the  food  counter  of  the  small  restaurant.  As 


30  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

the  baggage-carrier  put  down  our  dressing-cases  a 
mass  of  youngsters,  delighting  in  the  new  experi- 
ence, crawled  over  my  things  like  flies,  and  took 
possession. 

The  station  rooms  were  dreadfully  close,  and  the 
smell  of  varied  unwashed  humanity,  with  flavors  of 
boots,  onions,  and  sour  milk  lingered  in  the  over- 
heated atmosphere,  which  was  thick  with  the  smoke 
from  many  cigarettes.  My  train  for  home  was  to 
stop  at  this  junction — according  to  the  time-table 
— in  an  hour;  so,  ordering  tea,  I  drew  out  a  book 
and  resigned  myself  to  discomfort,  since  it  was  in- 
evitable. My  maid  went  out  to  walk,  unable  to 
make  up  her  mind  to  endure  our  surroundings,  and 
in  a  few  moments  she  returned  to  me  with  a  worried 
face,  saying:  "Highness,  there  is  no  train  for  our 
destination  to-day.  The  one  we  counted  on  has 
been  removed  as  a  war  measure,  and  they  say  we 
must  remain  till  to-morrow  noon  before  we  can  go 
farther." 

It  was  a  serious  matter,  as  I  had  expected  to  reach 
home  at  least  in  time  to  sleep  there,  and  the  Bou- 
romka  horses  must  be  already  awaiting  me  at  Pal- 
myra. I  sent  for  the  station-master,  and  he  in- 
vited me  into  his  private  office  while  we  discussed 
possibilities.  ... 

I  was  but  forty  versts  from  my  destination,  yet 
entirely  unable  to  get  there;  and  a  night  in  the 
company  of  the  poor  refugees,  spent  seated  on  an 
upright  chair  and  without  food,  promised  to  be 
most  disagreeable.  The  tiny  village  had  no  horses 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  31 

for  hire,  or  I, might  have  driven;  and  since  the  war 
began  it  had  been  impossible,  of  course,  to  get  a 
locomotive  with  a  special  car  attached,  as  one  could 
have  done  of  old.  In  answer  to  all  my  questions  I 
found  the  station-master  full  of  apologies  and  nega- 
tives. 

Seeing  my  disappointment,  and  because  I  said  I 
would  do  almost  anything  rather  than  spend  the 
night  in  such  hideous  surroundings,  he  came  to  me 
shortly  afterward  with  an  original  proposal.  He 
said  he  had  just  received  the  signal  of  a  freight-train 
going  in  my  direction,  and  to  which  was  attached 
a  warm  car — "tepliouchka."  Probably  there  would 
be  occupants  in  it — peasants  and  soldiers;  but  an 
officer  who  was  anxious  to  push  on  had  asked  to  use 
this  means  of  travel,  and  a  little  peasant  woman 
was  going  too.  Would  I,  with  my  maid,  care  to 
take  this  means  to  advance  upon  our  road  ?  It  was 
the  best  he  could  offer  us  till  to-morrow's  train  went 
through,  and  he  was  profuse  in  his  repeated  excuses. 

After  a  moment's  hesitation  I  accepted,  asking 
him  what  sort  of  people  usually  travelled  in 
these  parts  in  such  conveyances  ?  He  answered  he 
thought  I  would  find  them  quiet  and  well-behaved; 
so,  though  it  seemed  rather  an  adventure,  I  thanked 
the  man  for  his  kindness  and  accepted  his  invitation. 

About  six-thirty,  with  the  evening  already  dark, 
the  train  came  rolling  slowly  in,  and  the  station- 
master  escorted  Elene  and  me  to  our  new-style 
railroad-carriage.  He  and  others  helped  us  up  to 
the  great  side  door  of  the  freight-car,  where  I  stood 


32  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

still  a  moment  to  get  my  bearings  by  the  dim 
light  of  a  small  lantern  which  contained  a  single 
burning  candle-end.  I  found  myself  in  a  car  where 
the  centre  of  the  floor  was  covered  by  a  sheet  of 
tin,  nailed  down,  on  which  stood  a  small  red-hot 
iron  stove;  its  pipe  ran  upward  through  a  hole  in 
the  roof  cut  to  fit  it.  A  pile  of  wood  was  near,  and 
warm  dry  ashes  covered  the  tin  flooring — a  com- 
fortable cushion  to  put  cold  feet  into !  Round  this 
stood  half-a-dozen  boxes  in  lieu  of  seats. 

All  this  arrangement  took  up  somewhat  over  a 
third  of  the  interior  floor  space  of  the  car,  while 
at  each  end  were  built  two  rough,  deep  shelves 
of  pine-wood — one  knee-high,  one  shoulder-high — 
where  men  could  sleep,  making  their  berths  length- 
wise into  the  depths,  with  their  feet,  or  their  heads, 
optionally,  toward  the  fire  and  their  baggage  piled 
beyond  them  against  the  end  walls.  Soldiers  usually 
travelled  in  these  cars — forty  or  more,  for  ten  men 
were  counted  to  each  shelf -bed — and  lately  the  gov- 
ernment had  used  these  same  conveyances  to  house 
the  refugees;  but  it  was  my  first  sight  of  the  interior 
of  one. 

My  bags  and  El£ne  were  hoisted  in  after  me,  and 
the  station-master  said  in  a  loud  voice:  "Please  be- 
have yourselves,  children,  and  be  careful  of  the 
lady.  She  must  go  to  Palmyra,  and  I  have  said 
she  should  be  comfortable  here.  Don't  smoke. " 
I  thanked  him  in  my  best  words,  added  to  a  bank- 
note, with  which  he  seemed  pleased;  and  then  I 
turned  toward  my  new  companions.  "Good  eve- 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  33 

ning !"  I  said.  "The  station-master  is  mistaken,  for 
I  don't  mind  smoke,  and  I  will  join  you  with  a 
cigarette."  And  I  drew  one  from  my  bag  and 
lighted  it. 

Scattered  about  on  the  shelf-beds  were  some 
dozen  men  in  sheepskin  cloaks  and  heavy  boots, 
peasants  evidently,  dirty  from  their  toil,  and  all 
heavily  bearded.  They  were  either  asleep  or 
drowsily  watching  the  fire  with  contented  faces. 
A  few  soldiers  were  among  them,  resting,  too,  but 
strikingly  spick  and  span  in  comparison  with  their 
uncouth  neighbors.  About  the  fire,  beside  the  officer 
(who  had  been  equally  in  a  hurry  with  me  to  leave 
the  junction),  my  Elene,  myself,  and  the  young  vil- 
lage matron,  were  gathered  two  brakemen  of  our 
train,  who  were  ofl  duty,  and  three  soldiers,  wide- 
awake and  eating  some  provisions,  which  they 
divided  with  two  elderly  peasants. 

The  head  brakeman,  full  of  zeal,  saw  to  our 
baggage,  piling  it  in  a  corner;  and  then  he  gave  me 
a  narrow  bench  he  had  been  sitting  on  himself  near 
the  fire.  He  probably  guessed  I  was  visiting  such 
surroundings  for  the  first  time,  and  with  amiable 
good-will  he  set  out  to  make  me  feel  at  home.  All 
the  men  who  were  awake  had  replied  quietly  to  my 
greeting,  and  as  I  seated  myself  and  looked  about 
I  felt  in  a  most  congenial  atmosphere  of  hospitality, 
tempered  with  curiosity.  But  I  was  inquisitive  and 
I  looked  forward  to  having  a  very  interesting  trip. 

I  first  inquired  how  long  it  would  be  before  we 
reached  my  station.  "There  is  one  other  before 


34  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

yours,  Barina  (lady),  where  we  shall  stop  a  while: 
then  we  go  on.  And  as  we  have  a  good  engine 
to-day  we  shall  soon  reach  Palmyra."  There  was 
a  smell  of  leather  in  the  car,  and  the  cheap  tobacco 
of  the  peasants  was  very  strong,  but  the  man  who 
made  me  his  special  care  opened  the  door  a  crack 
for  air,  saying:  "So  the  Barina  shall  not  find  it  too 
much."  He  also  gave  me  his  big  sheepskin-lined 
coat,  folding  it  up  for  me  to  sit  on  like  a  cushion, 
and  he  drew  my  seat  nearer  the  stove,  so  I  could 
have  my  feet  on  the  warm  ashes.  Then,  asking 
permission  politely,  he  sat  down  next  me,  and  I 
prepared  for  conversation. 

Elene,  on  my  left,  was  established  on  our  bags, 
quite  silent,  evidently  much  less  pleased  with  our 
adventure  than  I.  Next  her  was  the  little  village 
matron,  very  quaint  and  dignified,  well  dressed  and 
with  a  charming  rosy  face.  I  began  to  talk  to  her, 
and  soon  she  was  telling  us  all  of  her  trip  to  the 
great  city  of  Kief,  where  she  had  visited  her  husband, 
a  wounded  soldier  in  one  of  the  hospitals  there.  It 
had  been  good  to  see  him  again.  He  was  well  cared 
for  and  would  soon  recover;  and  then  he  was  to 
come  home  to  the  village  for  his  convalescence. 
She  hoped  this  might  be  by  Easter  time.  Mean- 
time she  was  bringing  apples  and  toys  to  the  chil- 
dren, of  whom  she  had  two,  aged  two  and  three 
years. 

I  was  duly  sympathetic,  and  told  her  my  hus- 
band was  a  soldier  also,  and  had  been  wounded 
early  in  the  war,  but  he  was  now  well  again  and 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  35 

back  under  fire;  I  had  also  been  to  Kief  to  see  him 
and  to  spend  two  days  there.  I  was  also  going 
back  with  some  toys  for  my  children,  who  were 
much  older,  however,  than  were  hers.  One  of  the 
soldiers,  touching  his  fur  cap,  joined  in  to  ask  on 
what  front  my  husband  served  and  where  he  had 
been  wounded.  I  gave  details  of  the  wound,  but 
only  said  he  was  now  commanding  a  cavalry  regi- 
ment which  had  been  dismounted  and  put  into  the 
trenches  recently  on  the  Polish  front. 

I  neglected  to  mention  Cantacuzene's  name  and 
actual  rank,  as  it  might  have  impressed  the  little 
company  sufficiently  to  keep  them  silent,  which  I 
should  have  regretted  deeply,  as  we  were  just  begin- 
ning to  get  on  famously.  Anyhow,  Cantacuzene's 
part  of  the  battle-line  and  the  soldier's  were  not  the 
same,  so  the  latter  went  on  to  tell  us  of  his  own 
unit's  advance  through  Galicia,  and  of  the  difficul- 
ties our  men  from  the  steppes  found  climbing  high 
mountains  and  fighting  above  the  snow  line,  remain- 
ing there  for  long  months  without  ever  having  had 
previous  training  in  high  altitudes. 

He  said  the  retreat  of  a  year  ago  had  been  tire- 
some— "skoutchno";  but  he  did  not  think  of  com- 
plaining about  our  armies  lacking  arms  and  am- 
munition during  that  time.  He  said  they  held  on, 
of  course,  as  much  as  they  could,  "because  the 
Grand  Duke  said  they  must."  Then  he  looked 
troubled  and  said:  "Now  the  Grand  Duke  is  no 
longer  at  the  staff?" — "No;  now  he  is  in  the  Cau- 
casus, and  the  Emperor  is  commanding  all  the 


36  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

armies  and  living  at  the  staff,"  I  replied:  "Yes; 
now  it  is  the  Emperor.  ..."  But  the  soldier's 
voice  and  face  lacked  enthusiasm,  I  thought,  and 
the  subject  was  dropped  without  further  comment. 

Then  the  next  soldier  joined  in  the  conversation. 
"I  have  a  newspaper  here,  and  it  tells  of  the  fall 
of  Erzeroum  and  the  Grand  Duke's  capture  of  that 
fortress,"  he  stated.  The  others  knew  only  that  the 
great  Turkish  town  had  fallen;  so  his  story  was 
listened  to  with  renewed  animation,  and  the  owner 
of  the  news  sheet  was  given  our  only  lantern  to  read 
by.  Slowly  and  haltingly  he  spelled  out  and  gave 
us  the  details  of  the  old  chief's  latest  victory;  and 
even  the  peasants  were  immediately  absorbed  and 
followed  the  reading  attentively  in  an  effort  to  un- 
derstand. It  was  complicated  for  them,  however, 
since  they  spoke  only  the  Little-Russian  dialect, 
and  the  paper  was  in  the  northern  language.  How- 
ever, the  soldiers  not  only  could  read  Russian,  but 
spoke  the  other  also;  and  the  villagers  were  so  keen 
that  doubtless  they  took  on  faith  what  they  could 
not  fully  comprehend  of  the  exciting  recital. 

One  of  them,  an  old  peasant,  volunteered  some 
remarks  on  his  own  account  afterward.  He  had 
heard  much  of  the  war  and  of  politics  these  days.  .  .  . 
"Now  it  was  not  as  in  the  old  times,  when  one  did 
not  know  what  was  happening  in  the  world.  ..." 
For  instance,  he  had  heard  there  were  great  changes 
in  the  capital,  which  he  did  not  understand.  .  .  . 
"Why  did  the  Czar  go  away  to  the  staff  ?  .  .  .  And 
why  was  there  so  much  trouble  about  politics  ?  .  .  ." 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  37 

I  plunged  into  explanations,  in  my  turn,  and 
tried  to  tell  him,  how  there  had  been  a  mix-up 
among  the  ministers,  and  that  the  Prime  Minister, 
Gorymeldne,  had  left  because  he  did  not  want  the 
people's  Duma  to  take  part  in  the  government; 
but  that  the  Emperor  had  wished  for  the  Duma, 
and  had  presently  called  it  together  again,  going 
in  person  to  its  inauguration.  His  Majesty  had  also 
named  a  new  minister,  Sturmer,  who  every  one 
thought  would  be  liberal  and  would  push  the  war 
by  helping  our  troops  at  the  front  in  every  way. 

My  Russian,  at  best,  is  very  sketchy,  and  I  scarcely 
speak  Little-Russian  at  all;  but  the  soldiers  helped 
me,  and  after  a  long  time  the  picturesque  old  crea- 
ture I  was  addressing  looked  illuminated.  "It  is  I 
who  am  starost  (elder  or  mayor)  of  my  village,"  he 
said,  "and  if  I  desire  to  do  and  decide  all  myself, 
I  am  like  that  old  minister;  while  if  I  desire  to  ask 
advice  of  others  I  am  like  the  new  man.  But  some- 
times, when  things  are  in  this  last  manner,  the  others 
wish  to  give  too  much  advice.  .  .  .  And  then  what 
can  one  do,  Banna?" 

He  was  altogether  delightful  in  his  naivete,  and 
as  he  had  evidently  seized  the  point  so  well,  we 
went  on  to  other  topics,  less  difficult.  He  informed 
me  that  the  peasants  in  the  car  were  "hlopsi" 
(fellows)  who  were  going  down  to  Tcherkass,  on 
the  Dnieper  River,  to  dig  trenches  against  the  Ger- 
man invasion.  "And  this  was  very  fine  profitable 
work,  as  men  were  paid  one  rouble  and  a  half  a  day 
there;  when  at  home  in  the  village  eighty  kopecks 


S8  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

— or  at  most  a  rouble — was  all  one  could  earn  in 
a  day." 

In  a  Corner  of  the  upper  berth  on  our  right,  a 
company  of  four  men  had  awakened;  and,  produc- 
ing a  candle  and  a  greasy  pack  of  cards,  they  began 
to  play  some  game,  while  various  others  scrambled 
up  about  them  and  looked  on,  absorbed  by  the 
changing  luck.  One  big  fellow  was  losing  and  com- 
plaining of  it;  and  finally,  when  the  game  ended,  it 
turned  out  he  had  played  expecting  only  to  win, 
and  that  he  had  no  kopecks  to  pay  his  debt  of  honor. 
The  group  was  indignant  with  him  and  their  voices 
grew  louder.  My  friend  the  brakeman,  and  also 
the  officer,  glanced  up  anxiously,  as  the  culprit  sud- 
denly said  something — evidently  a  taunt — in  a  half 
tone.  The  answer  rang  out  in  indignation;  and  it 
was:  ''If  the  Barina  were  not  here  I  would  tell  thee 
what  I  think  of  thee !"  Then  there  was  silence  and 
the  game  went  on,  the  delicate  question  being  left 
to  later  settlement.  I  had  never  received  a  com- 
pliment which  pleased  me  better;  and  I  felt  quite 
comfortable  for  the  rest  of  our  trip,  and  rather 
ashamed  of  having  transferred  my  revolver  from 
my  dressing-case  to  my  pocket  before  starting  out 
with  this  company  of  chivalrous  gentlemen. 

As  conversation  lagged  I  said  I  would  sleep;  and 
at  once  my  little  bench  was  moved  back  for  me 
nearer  the  wall,  so  I  might  have  something  against 
which  to  lean.  Using  my  muff  for  a  pillow,  I  rested 
with  comparative  comfort,  and  watched  my  com- 
panions through  half -closed  eyes.  I  saw  my  brake- 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  39 

man  turn  the  lantern  till  its  light  was  off  my  face; 
and  then  he  made  up  the  fire,  murmuring  that  it 
would  last  a  long  time  and  I  should,  therefore,  be- 
undisturbed.  The  regular  noise  of  the  car  and  the 
lowered  voices  of  my  companions  lulled  me  into  a 
doze,  and  I  forgot  them  for  a  while.  .  .  . 

When  I  awoke  they  were  all  sitting  in  the  same 
places,  save  the  officer  and  the  little  peasant  woman, 
who  were  leaving  the  train,  which  had  stopped. 
We  stayed  at  this  station  some  time,  and  the  brake- 
man  offered  to  bring  me  tea.  .  .  .  Then  we  moved 
on  for  another  hour  or  so,  and  the  men  asked  me 
discreet  questions,  in  order  to  identify  me  if  they 
could.  I  told  them  I  was  a  proprietor  of  the  dis- 
trict, and  owned  a  small  place  not  far  from  Palmyra. 
Then  some  one  volunteered  that  the  country  about 
there  was  pretty  and  rich.  I  agreed;  whereupon  he 
said:  "All  that  part  of  the  province  is  good,  and 
there  are  many  large  estates  belonging  to  great 
people.  .  .  ." 

For  instance,  he  had  heard  of  Bouromka  and  the 
Cantacuzene  Princes  there.  ...  I  said:  "I  know 
the  Bouromka  village  from  having  driven  through 
it;  indeed,  it  is  very  fine  and  big."  Whereupon  he 
looked  disappointed  and  evidently  thought  he  had 
guessed  wrongly,  though  he  did  not  mention  this 
fact.  When  they  heard  me  say  our  horses  were  wait- 
ing for  me,  they  all  looked  quite  excited  and  child- 
ishly interested.  How  many  would  there  be  ?  And 
were  they  mine  ?  .  .  . 

The   tickets  were  gathered   up   just   before  we 


40  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

reached  Palmyra,  and  every  one  was  enchanted 
when  I  gave  ours,  for  they  were  for  first-class  places, 
and  my  new  friends  decided  that  such  had  never 
been  seen  in  a  car  like  this  before.  As  time  passed 
the  tone  of  our  company  remained  quiet  and  digni- 
fied, and  to  the  end  all  these  men  of  the  people 
were  full  of  care  and  kindness,  both  for  my  maid 
and  for  me.  We  were  their  guests,  and  with  their 
beautiful  Oriental  ideas  of  hospitality  they  gave  us 
every  respectful  attention. 

At  last  we  reached  Palmyra,  about  midnight, 
having  taken  five  hours  to  do  forty  versts.  We 
drew  up  far  beyond  the  platform  of  the  tiny  station, 
and  I  looked  out.  It  was  a  fine  moonlight  night, 
but  near  the  car  the  snow  seemed  knee-deep  or 
more;  and,  though  I  had  on  rather  heavy  boots, 
to  jump  into  that  appeared  a  discouraging  pros- 
pect. I  drew  back  into  the  car.  "Will  some  of 
you  go  down  and  take  our  bags?  Then  I  can 
jump  to  them,"  I  said. 

I  made  it  a  general  suggestion,  and  I  was  im- 
mediately answered  by  my  special  brakeman,  who 
was  fastening  on  his  heavy  coat.  "One moment, 
and  I  will  arrange  everything,"  he  said.  "You 
soldiers  take  those  bags  and  carry  them  to  the  sta- 
tion platform,"  he  continued;  and  the  military  ele- 
ment at  once  let  themselves  down  to  the  ground, 
took  our  things,  which  the  brakeman  handed  out, 
and  marched  off  to  the  station,  tramping  a  path  for 
us,  while  our  bags  were  not  even  touched  by  the 
snow. 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  41 

Then  the  brakeman  himself  went  down  and  his 
comrade  followed  him.  The  train-master  also  came 
out  to  see.  Turning  toward  me,  my  friend  said: 
"Please  jump  now,  Banna,  and  I  will  catch  you." 

I  jumped,  blindly  obedient,  and  he  caught  me 
easily,  never  allowing,  my  feet  to  get  wet;  and  he 
carried  me  like  a  small  child  all  the  way  to  the 
station. 

Naturally  I  began  to  protest,  saying  I  could  walk 
without  damage  to  my  heavy  boots.  "Are  those 
little  things  heavy  boots,  I  should  like  to  know?" 
he  answered  amiably.  "They  would  be  spoiled, 
and  you  would  then  feel  cold;  so  I  shall  carry  you, 
Barina,  for  I  am  well  protected  and  used  to  this 
rough  life." 

On  leaving  the  train  I  had  said  good-by  and 
thank  you  to  all  my  companions,  who  had  replied 
with  enthusiasm,  telling  me  I  had  been  welcome ! 
Now,  I  had  to  thank  the  soldiers  and  the  brakeman 
who  had  taken  care  of  us  and  our  possessions,  and 
had  made  such  a  success  of  the  trip.  To  these  I 
gave  some  bills,  large  enough,  I  hoped,  to  prove  to 
them  my  very  real  gratitude ;  and  I  told  them  quite 
sincerely  that  I  had  never  had  a  more  interesting 
or  agreeable  trip. 

In  turn,  they  all  thanked  me  politely,  and  wished 
me  good  luck  on  my  further  journey.  My  special 
friend,  the  brakeman,  even  went  to  see  whether 
the  wife  of  the  station-master  could  lend  me  her 
"samovar,"  so  El£ne  might  make  our  tea.  Inci- 
dentally he  had  evidently  investigated  about  the 


42  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

carriage  and  horses,  and  had  found  out  my  name, 
for  when  he  returned  to  me  he  gave  me  my  title 
instead  of  the  impersonal  "Banna"  he  had  used 
till  then. 

Finally  he  hastened  off  to  his  train,  and  as  I 
drank  my  tea  I  heard  it  depart,  and  wondered 
whether  those  in  the  car  were  all  learning  who  I  was, 
and  were  feeling  as  pleased  with  the  money  I  had 
sent  them  as  I  was  feeling  enchanted  with  them  and 
their  sociable  qualities. 

Later,  when  the  horses  had  been  harnessed  amid 
a  great  to-do — for  the  coachman  and  his  aid  had 
not  expected  me  to  arrive  on  a  freight-train,  and 
had  settled  down  for  the  night — I  drove  home  with 
Elene  through  the  dawn  and  reached  Bouromka 
before  its  household  was  out  of  bed. 

The  Princess  was  greatly  shocked  at  my  escapade 
— thought  it  had  been  most  dangerous;  and  she 
"only  hoped  I  had  told  whose  wife  I  was  before 
starting — to  protect  myself !  .  .  ." 

That  I  had  not  done  so,  but  had  preferred  being 
the  guest  and  friend  of  my  companions,  was  "in- 
comprehensible !  .  .  ."  Though  she  tried  to  see 
the  joke,  she  never  admitted  that  with  our  gentle 
people  I  was  quite  safe  or  could  have  been  com- 
fortable; and  she  always  called  the  story  "an  ex- 
ample of  American  folly!" 

As  to  old  nurse,  her  indignation  was  equally  in- 
tense; and  she  insisted  that  both  El£ne  and  I  should 
have  baths  and  wash  our  hair,  changing  everything 
we  wore,  before  we  approached  "her"  children! 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  43 

Of  course  the  latter  were  delighted  with  the  excit- 
ing tale  of  my  adventure,  and  only  too  sorry  they 
had  missed  the  party  which  had  been  such  fun. 
''When  may  we  travel  in  a  tepliouchka,  mamma?'* 
they  begged.  .  .  .  The  rest  of  the  family  also 
seemed  to  approve  and  to  enjoy  my  experience 
vastly.  .  .  . 

Soon  spring  was  on  us  and  the  steppes  lay  under 
a  broad  sheet  of  water  as  the  snow  melted  down. 
It  made  a  splendid  sight.  It  was  as  if  the  chateau 
and  park  and  the  forests  stood  up,  fairy  islands  in 
a  great  calm  sea.  The  sky  was  blue,  the  air  soft, 
and  a  few  birds  and  blossoms  began  to  appear. 

I  can't  describe  the  charm  of  the  yearly  awaken- 
ing of  earth  and  people  in  our  provinces  of  Little- 
Russia,  which  are  quite  especially  beautiful  at  that 
season. 

Yet,  just  then  I  was  obliged  to  leave  and  go  north- 
ward. My  boy,  who  had  fallen  ill,  claimed  me; 
and  from  that  time  on  I  was  so  tied  down  by  the 
care  his  ill  health  necessitated,  and  by  my  Red  Cross 
work,  I  never  did  get  back  to  the  country  again, 
except  in  passing.  In  1917  came  the  great  revolu- 
tion. Our  people,  after  most  moderate  behavior 
during  the  first  eight  months,  received  the  special 
visit  of  a  committee  which  came  to  live  among  them 
and  to  direct  the  political  and  economic  movements 
at  Bouromka. 

The  village  was  fed  up  on  vodka  and  fiery  propa- 
ganda for  a  time,  until  the  peasants  were  guided  to 
the  committing  of  wild  excesses.  ,  .  .  Our  farm- 


44        .  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

buildings  were  all  burned  with  their  contents  of 
implements,  and  all  our  blooded  stock  was  divided 
up  among  the  participants  in  these  disorders,  or 
killed  outright,  or  was  simply  scattered  over  the 
broad  plains.  Then  the  distillery  and  the  house 
cellars  were  broken  into,  and  finally  the  chateau 
itself  was  burned  one  night.  The  whole  place  be- 
came desolate  finally. 

The  frame  of  the  old  life  is  gone  and  we  exiles 
have  no  news  now  save  what  reaches  us  indirectly. 
Our  intendants  have  been  banished  to  the  district 
town;  but,  strangely  enough,  two  of  the  worst  revo- 
lutionaries of  1905  are  trying  to  represent  our  inter- 
ests at  Bouromka,  and  to  gather  the  scattered  stock 
and  property.  They  even  re-established  relations 
with  the  intendants,  their  ex-chiefs,  this  past  autumn, 
1918;  but,  though  apparently  full  of  zeal,  in  the  gen- 
eral chaos,  of  course  they  have  little  power  and  no 
plans. 

The  village,  having  lost  the  advantage  of  its  labor 
on  the  estate,  at  wages  which  meant  a  yearly  in- 
come of  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  roubles 
per  season  to  the  workmen  employed,  is  now  utterly 
poor  in  money  and  provisions;  while  the  charities, 
care,  and  pensions  which  our  family  used  to  give  the 
ill  or  old  (and  which  have,  of  course,  automatically 
ceased)  are  sadly  missed. 

The  fields  lie  fallow,  since  the  peasants  lack  or- 
ganization, knowledge,  and  the  implements  to  till 
them.  All  this  has  been  wantonly  destroyed. 
Twenty-five  thousand  acres  can  mean  nothing  with- 


PROPRIETORS  AND  PEASANTS  45 

out  cultivation,  so  distress  and  famine  roam  our 
land,  and  no  one  knows  what  plague  the  next  seasons 
may  bring. 

Russian  proprietors  admit  that  the  patriarchal 
system  has  ended  as  completely  as  did  the  feudal 
days  of  France  in  her  revolution;  yet  few  among  our 
nobility  have  lost  faith  in  the  future.  All  those  I 
know  seem  ready  to  work  out  our  great  problems 
and  to  begin  national  life  anew,  with  fresh  under- 
standing and  good-will  to  build  upon. 

I  am  glad,  for  my  part — whatever  the  future  may 
be — that  I  lived  in  a  time  to  know  the  old  condi- 
tions and  the  ancient  frame  of  our  existence  as  it 
was,  with  its  soft  charm.  Also,  I  rejoice  that  I 
spent  those  last  months  of  a  war  winter  among  our 
picturesque  people,  and  that  I  felt  their  care ! 
Such  memories  help  one  to  forgive  and  to  forget 
the  worst  of  what  has  passed  and  is  still  happening, 
and  to  recall  only  the  beauty  and  the  best  of  our 
ancient  "Holy  Russia." 


II 

REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE 

IT  was  Easter  Eve,  1916.  All  the  village  of 
Bouromka  was  assembled  in  the  church  or  in 
the  latter's  garden  on  the  hilltop.  The  people 
listened  to  the  chanted  service,  then  bowed  in 
prayer  low  to  the  ground,  following  their  ancient 
rites  with  a  respect  and  devotion  which  war  had 
renewed  and  strengthened.  The  three  great  door- 
ways were  left  wide  open,  as  were  all  the  windows, 
admitting  the  fragrance  of  damp  earth,  fresh  leaves, 
and  spring  blossoms,  to  rival  that  of  the  incense. 
A  starry  soft  night  it  was,  long  to  be  remembered 
in  the  annals  of  this  quaint  corner  of  the  world, 
which  had  been  passed  over  by  modern  civilization 
and  lived  still  in  the  ways  of  long  ago. 

The  " seigneurs"  from  the  castle  were  present, 
in  their  own  "loge,"  high  above  the  multitude  en- 
throned in  feudal  power;  the  handsome  elderly  Prin- 
cess, with  her  well-drawn  French  features,  unmis- 
takable Paris  coiffure,  and  smart  dress  of  pearl- 
gray,  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  group,  surrounded 
by  her  children  and  grandchildren.  Between  the 
genuflexions,  which  she  exaggerated  by  way  of  ex- 
ample always,  her  attention  wandered  and  she 
gently  beat  time  to  the  measure  of  the  chant  and 
gazed  about  at  her  peasantry.  She  noted  with  un- 

4$ 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  47 

disguised  pride  the  splendor  of  the  church  decora- 
tions she  had  given,  the  richness  of  the  priest's  robes 
and  of  the  ceremonial,  as  well  as  the  prosperous  air 
of  the  congregation  at  her  feet.  She  was  taking 
great  credit  to  herself  for  their  progress  in  such 
branches  of  science  as  she  had  willed,  and  for  the 
well-being  her  encouragement  had  caused  to  be  in- 
troduced. 

At  midnight  the  "Halleluia  Chant,"  most  beau- 
tiful of  all  those  in  the  Orthodox  ceremonials,  began. 
The  priest  intoned  his  " Christ  has  risen,"  and  the 
thrilling,  vibrating  chorus  of  melodious  Slav  voices 
followed  his  with  the  reply:  "In  verity  He  is  risen  !" 
Repeated,  it  soared  up  and  up,  until  the  magnificent 
rejoicing  reached  the  zenith  of  its  volume  and  broke 
against  the  church's  high-domed  roof.  In  every 
hand  appeared  a  tiny  lighted  taper  at  this  moment, 
and  the  procession  formed  to  march  around  the 
church  garden,  the  priest  leading,  with  his  deacons 
spreading  incense,  the  Princess  and  her  children 
following  him;  then  came  our  intendants  and  re- 
tainers; after  them  the  village  elders  and  all  the  gen- 
eral congregation,  down  to  the  last  poor  mendicant, 
fell  into  line.  It  was  a  wonderful  sight  in  the  per- 
fumed night  of  Little-Russia,  which  the  twinkling 
stars  gazed  down  upon.  When  the  procession  ended 
and  all  returned  to  their  places  once  more,  there 
was  still  the  solemn  mass,  with  its  tale  of  death 
overcome  and  vanquished  for  the  saving  of  the 
world.  The  tapers  were  extinguished,  and  all  was 
quiet  save  for  the  voice  of  our  young  priest  inton- 


48  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

ing  slowly  and  impressively.  Tiring  of  the  lengthy 
service,  my  twelve-year-old  girl  turned  her  gaze  out 
through  the  doorway,  over  the  crowd's  heads, 
toward  the  chateau's  park  and  to  the  ancient  grass- 
grown  "gorodok,"  or  fortress,  which  had  been  of 
old  a  stronghold  of  the  Cossacks  against  attacking 
forces  from  the  plains.  Little  Bertha's  soft,  big 
brown  eyes  suddenly  lost  their  dreaminess  and  she 
grew  intense.  She  leaned  toward  her  uncle  and 
spoke  in  a  vibrant  whisper:  "Uncle  Guishka,  do 
look.  .  .  .  Over  there  on  the  gorodok,  see  what  is 
happening."  He  too  glanced  up  sharply,  and  with 
a  muttered  exclamation  he  disappeared  from  the 
back  of  the  loge,  dragging  with  him  out  of  the 
church  our  head  intendant,  whose  aids  followed. 
The  village  chief  of  police  went  as  well.  They  held 
a  short  consultation,  and  my  brother-in-law  pointed 
toward  the  park.  Then  six  men  seized  their  horses, 
and  with  click  of  spurs  jumped  onto  these  and 
were  gone.  Guishka  returned  to  the  loge  and  every 
eye  was  on  him.  All  the  family,  who  by  this  time 
had  been  informed  of  little  Bertha's  discovery,  were 
staring  with  anxious  expressions  in  the  direction  of 
the  overgrown  fortress.  "What  an  idea ! "  said  the 
old  Princess,  audibly  disdainful,  and  then  she  put 
up  her  lorgnon  and  she  turned  pale.  The  church- 
goers were  naturally  distracted  from  their  devo- 
tions, and  with  open-eyed  amazement  they  looked 
out  into  the  night,  while  Batioushka  finished  the  mass 
lamely,  said  a  hasty  benediction,  took  off  his  gay- 
flowered  robes  of  brocade,  and  joined  his  flock. 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  49 

"What  is  it,  my  children?"  "Eh,  Batioushka,  see; 
it  is  the  signal;  a  great  disaster  threatens;  over  there 
the  fire  dances,  and  we  all  know  what  that  portends. 
Tell  about  it,  Diadia  Ivan."  And  Uncle  Ivan 
stepped  forward,  leaning  on  his  stick,  and  told  how 
in  the  times  almost  forgotten  the  Cossacks  had 
robbed  and  tortured,  then  murdered,  some  innocent 
victims  here  in  their  fortress,  and  how  in  memory 
of  the  crime  the  souls  of  these  returned  from  time 
to  time  through  the  ages  as  dancing  torches  of  flame, 
and  visited  the  spot  of  their  martyrdom.  The  last 
time  it  occurred  had  been  at  midnight  on  Easter 
of  the  year  when  the  Princess  Marie-Alexandrovna 
died.  This  her  death  had  been  a  terrible  blow  to 
Bouromka,  and:  "Who  knows  what  calamity  men- 
aces us  at  present,  with  the  war  still  going  on  ? 
See,  Batioushka,  there  dance  the  torches  now, 
several  of  them  over  above  the  gorodok;  I  heard 
his  Highness  telling  Michael-Petrovitch  and  the 
other  intendants,  as  well  as  the  police,  to  go  fetch 
the  miscreants  who  would  invent  such  a  masquerade 
and  frighten  us  all  to-night.  True,  Batioushka,  it 
means  disaster,  unless  it  is  a  game  of  the  youngsters ; 
for  never  has  the  miracle  been  seen  without  fore- 
shadowing great  trouble  to  our  people."  The  ap- 
parition of  the  torches  had  somewhat  dampened  the 
spirit  of  revelry  appropriate  to  Russian  Easter. 
Probably  their  gayety  returned,  however,  after  the 
peasants  scattered  to  their  spreads  of  Easter  dishes, 
with  which  tradition  and  the  church  bade  them  break 
their  three  days'  fast.  At  the  chateau  the  Princess 


50  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

tried  at  first  to  overcome  the  weight  of  anxiety 
among  her  guests  with  her  Western  scepticism  and 
Gallic  wit,  brought  to  bear  on  the  flames ;  but,  seeing 
faces  still  preoccupied  around  her,  she  finally  changed 
her  subject  of  conversation,  till  by  an  effort  supper 
became  cheerful  again.  .  .  .  Later  the  police  re- 
turned, reporting  they  had  gone  over  every  foot  of 
the  old  earthworks,  and  not  a  soul  was  found  there, 
nor  was  the  phenomenon  of  the  torches  visible  to 
them  as  they  stood  on  the  spot,  though  it  was  seen 
by  them  and  every  one  else  once  outside  the  bounda- 
ries. Their  tale  was  merely  treated  as  "interesting" 
by  the  Princess,  while  the  rest  of  the  family  re- 
mained cast  down,  with  a  premonition  of  trouble. 
The  grandchildren  were  delighted,  however,  to  have 
"seen  a  fairy-tale."  Each  one  of  the  group  won- 
dered what  would  be  the  outcome  ?  The  old  Prin- 
cess finally  decided,  and  announced  laughingly,  it 
must  mean  her  death  within  the  year. 

But  the  war  went  on  and  neither  the  Princess  nor 
her  soldier  sons  died.  Nor  did  any  scourge  strike 
Bouromka  village  and  its  inhabitants.  On  the 
contrary,  after  eleven  months,  came  news  of  the 
revolution,  in  .March,  1917,  and  that  all  men  were 
grown  free  and  equal.  The  people  immediately 
began  to  prepare  for  a  millennium.  Were  not  the 
magic  words  of  "land  to  be  given  away"  part  of 
each  motto,  announcement,  or  speech  made  by  the 
new  government  ?  And  to  our  peasants  this  was 
always  synonymous  with  progress,  riches,  and  hap- 
piness, though  of  late  years  their  needs  and  troubles 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  51 

had  been  less  felt  with  their  acquisition  of  small 
individual  holdings.  So,  with  hearts  full  of  hope, 
Bouromka  inhabitants  embraced  the  new  ideals  of 
the  revolution,  as  they  understood  them.  .  .  ;  . 

Time  passed,  the  revolution  was  eighteen  months 
old,  and  it  was  the  autumn  of  1918,  the  season  when 
the  Slav  peasants  like  to  think  of  a  long  peaceful 
winter  ahead  and  to  sleep  with  a  well-mended  roof 
covering  them,  a  high  pile  of  fire- wood  near  the  door, 
and  with  grain  and  other  food  in  their  barns  to  be 
used  for  fattening  cattle,  as  well  as  men.  All  this 
had  seemed  good  in  days  before  the  revolution,  and 
there  had  been  also  then  a  share  of  comfortable 
ready  money  in  each  man's  pocket,  which  came  to 
him  from  the  chateau  near  by  for  harvest  work.  .  .  . 
Now  things  were  very  different,  however,  after  a 
year  and  a  half  of  independence.  In  spite  of  the 
new  liberty,  life  was  dreadfully  hard — worse  even 
than  when  as  serfs  on  this  place  the  people  had  lived 
under  absolute  masters,  for  here  the  latter  were  kind 
and  paternal  always.  Those  who  among  the  peas- 
antry had  had  to  do  with  the  great  household  had 
been  treated  like  children  of  her  house  by  the  old 
Princess  Marie-Alexandrovna.  She  had  loved  them 
and  felt  responsible  for  their  happiness.  Her  own 
grandfather's  mother  had  been  a  peasant  woman, 
married  to  the  village  priest,  and  had  lived  in 
poverty  until  her  son  became  Prime  Minister.  Then 
he  and  she  were  made  vastly  rich  by  his  sovereign's 
gratitude.  Among  the  family  portraits  at  Bou- 
romka hung  that  of  this  old  peasant  woman,  in  her 


52  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

national  dress,  with  a  pleased  smile  upon  her  face; 
perhaps  because  she  found  herself  thus  placed  among 
the  great  lords  in  uniform,  and  the  fine  ladies  in 
court  dress.  Old  Moses-Kouzmitch  and  Uncle 
Peter,  who  were  still  respectively  the  retired  butler 
and  the  eldest  gardener,  dimly  remembered  Speran- 
sky  himself,  when  in  their  childhood  they  had  served 
his  daughter,  as  they  had  later  his  granddaugh- 
ter, the  Princess  Marie-Alexandrovna  Cantacuzene. 
This  second  woman  was  the  one  they  all  had  adored, 
for  she  had  cared  for  her  peasantry  with  her 
own  hands  during  the  cholera  epidemic  of  the  six- 
ties, when  all  over  the  province  the  people  had  died 
like  flies,  save  only  on  the  fair  domains  of  Bou- 
romka.  There  she  had  built  a  great  hospital.  She 
herself  had  stayed  in  it  for  many  weeks  among  the 
ailing,  giving  them  drops  and  pills,  which  helped  to 
cure  the  scourge.  They  had  refused  to  take  rem- 
edies from  the  government  doctors,  because  rumor 
told  these  men  were  sent  to  give  the  poor  serfs 
poison,  so  even  if  they  escaped  the  cholera,  they 
would  die  of  something  else.  Memory  held  many 
anecdotes  of  Princess  Marie-Alexandrovna.  She 
had  allowed  her  peasants  to  marry  as  they  liked,  and 
had  treated  them  always  gently,  as  no  one  had  ever 
done  before.  All  those  who  had  served  her  were 
devoted  to  the  house.  She  had  lived  at  Bouromka 
through  her  whole  lifetime,  save  when  now  and  then 
she  made  a  short  trip  to  Italy  or  to  Odessa,  and  once 
or  twice  had  gone  to  court  at  St.  Petersburg.  The 
money  drawn  from  her  lands  had  been  mainly  spent 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  53 

on  them.  Her  boy,  and  only  child,  had  been  brought 
up  at  Bouromka,  and  he  had  loved  the  place  and 
studied  the  people  and  their  needs  like  his  mother. 
Before  he  went  off  to  Odessa's  university,  the  old 
Princess  had  asked  the  Emperor  to  allow  him  to 
bear  the  name  and  title  of  her  own  grandfather, 
Speransky  (who  had  been  the  priest's  son,  and  be- 
came the  greatest  man  of  his  time).  This  favor  was 
granted  by  imperial  decree,  and  the  young  Prince 
Cantacuzene  became  Count  Speransky  also.  He 
went  out  into  the  world  then  to  study,  married 
and  had  children,  while  Bouromka's  vast  steppe- 
lands,  its  forests,  and  its  three  large  villages  were 
still  administered  by  his  mother  till  her  death.  She 
faced  many  complications  at  the  abolition  of  the 
serfage,  also  the  problems  which  had  come  up  as 
results  therefrom.  Heavy  taxes  and  the  freed  peas- 
ant's work  in  house  and  field  must  be  paid  for,  but 
the  brave  old  woman  had  not  despaired.  She  had 
labored  on,  using  the  small  sums  of  which  she  could 
dispose  for  improvements  on  the  place,  and  for  her 
boy;  also  to  help  her  people  still,  though  she  no 
longer  owned  them,  except  in  their  voluntary  al- 
legiance. In  the  eighties  the  old  lady  died,  and  was 
deeply  mourned  by  a  devoted  people,  who  ever  since 
venerated  her  memory.  After  her  death  the  young 
Prince  with  his  French  wife  came  back  to  reign  in 
Bouromka,  but  he  himself  was  of  fragile  health  and 
lived  only  a  few  years.  His  share  in  the  estate's 
development  consisted  mainly  of  some  handsome  ad- 
ditions to  the  chateau,  and  of  farm-buildings  put 


54  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

up  on  the  newest  lines.  The  people  were  fond  of 
him  mainly  for  their  remembrance  of  his  youth, 
which  had  been  spent  among  them  at  his  mother's 
side,  so  they  spoke  of  him  and  his  kindly  ways, 
and  wept  sincerely  when  he  was  laid  near  Marie- 
Alexandrovna,  on  the  hilltop  by  the  picturesque 
church  which  they  two  had  built  together.  Both 
these  people  had  managed  to  avoid  the  fate  which 
overtook  most  Russ  an  proprietors  after  the  emanci- 
pation. In  spite  of  the  necessity  of  paying  heavily 
for  labor,  they  had  kept  clear  of  debt.  It  had  been 
but  small  compensation  the  government  gave  for 
the  serfs'  value,  and  for  the  property  given  these 
(which  for  us  consisted  of  a  half  Bouromka's  land). 
The  change  meant  a  great  loss  in  acres  and  in 
" souls"  to  the  ex-masters,  but  by  careful  living  the 
Prince,  like  his  mother,  left  to  his  heirs  estates  free 
of  all  mortgages,  with  a  contented  populace,  full  of 
affectionate  gratitude,  living  upon  them. 

The  French  Princess  brought  many  theories  from 
her  country  with  her,  also  immense  energy.  With 
conviction  she  took  hold  and  pressed  upon  her  Rus- 
sian people  reforms  and  developments  such  as  she 
had  seen  in  her  own  land.  Under  her  direction 
much  was  done  and  with  great  effort,  to  bring  the 
peasants  forward.  New  instruments  and  seeds, 
new  plants  and  trees,  new  blooded  cattle,  new  build- 
ings, much  new  machinery,  a  distillery,  and  a  mill 
marked  her  road  through  life.  The  servants  coming 
from  the  village  to  work  in  the  cMteau  were  intro- 
duced for  the  first  time  to  real  beds,  with  sheets 


NIKITA  AND  LISA,  VALET  AND   MAID    AT  BOUROMKA. 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  55 

and  pillow-cases,  instead  of  sleeping  on  the  stoves 
or  under  the  tables  in  kitchen  and  pantry.  They 
were  taught  to  do  work  regularly,  methodically, 
thoroughly,  and  all  together,  as  an  organized  ma- 
chine, and  to  keep  the  great  house  really  clean; 
while  the  lands  were  cultivated  as  they  had  never 
been  before;  and,  though  the  place  lost  some  of  its 
charm  of  Slav  ways,  and  though  the  national  cos- 
tumes almost  disappeared,  and  perhaps  also  the 
villagers  loved  the  chateau  somewhat  less  and  drifted 
away  from  the  intimate  patriarchal  relations  of  the 
past,  there  was  real  progress  about  one,  and  a  new 
stirring,  and,  as  the  Princess  would  proudly  say: 
"Bouromka  was  more  civilized  and  almost  like 
abroad."  In  the  village  the  inhabitants  remained 
truly  Russian,  happy-go-lucky  and  casual,  almost  to 
the  point  of  tragedy.  The  usurer  exploited  them, 
and  they  were  lazy  and  helpless  both  in  their  fields 
and  homes.  They  felt  it  was  easier  to  do  nothing 
on  borrowed  money,  and  to  drink,  than  to  follow 
the  chateau's  example  and  grow  prosperous.  So 
the  1905  revolution  found  a  shiftless,  helpless,  inert, 
benighted  crowd,  upon  which  it  seemed  to  have 
small  effect.  It  was  too  far  from  railroads  or  fac- 
tory centres  to  have  ever  talked  politics  or  built  up 
political  ideals.  After  the  arrival  of  certain  prop- 
agandists, who  formed  a  village  committee  and 
urged  the  peasants  on,  they  held  meetings  and 
listened  with  dull  ears  to  promises,  and  to  tirades 
about  their  misery,  which  was  real  enough,  judging 
by  the  aspect  of  the  town.  There  was  no  uprising 


56  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

however,  at  Bouromka,  in  1905,  and  our  three  vil- 
lages lived  through  the  troublous  epoch  with  only 
some  few  hot-headed,  discontented  men  to  show  for 
it.  Cossacks  who,  having  come  to  police  the  prop- 
erty, settled  down  with  happy  Slav  illogic  among 
our  villagers  as  friends,  chose  Bouromka  women  for 
wives  and  remained  for  good,  and  that  was  about  all 
we  knew  of  the  first  revolution.  But  elsewhere  dis- 
turbances, which  were  much  greater,  had  shaken  the 
government  into  various  new  measures,  making  for 
advance  and  reform,  and  our  district  profited  by 
these.  Since  the  emancipation  in  1861  all  land  of 
the  peasantry  had  belonged  to  their  communes,  or 
"Mir."  Now  it  was  divided  up  among  individuals, 
in  terribly  small  plots,  of  course,  but  still  each  was 
owned  outright,  and  could  be  bought  and  sold,  or 
cultivated  by  the  man  to  whom  it  belonged.  Our 
people  realized  the  advantage  of  this  personal  pos- 
session immediately,  and  some  who  wished  to  en- 
large their  fields  worked  and  saved  and  bought  out 
others,  who,  not  loving  the  country,  but  caring  for 
other  things,  went  with  their  acquired  capital  to  the 
large  cities,  to  work  in  shops  and  factories.  Some- 
times they  even  emigrated  to  far-away  Siberia,  to 
acquire  there  new  interests  and  a  broader  atmosphere. 
Their  going  made  agricultural  workmen  rarer  and 
put  up  wages  for  those  remaining  at  home.  This 
was  all  to  the  peasant's  advantage,  of  course,  for  we 
proprietors  felt  inclined  to  hold  our  people  as  best 
we  could,  especially  such  of  them  as  showed  intelli- 
gence, trained  or  untrained,  and  we  gladly  paid  the 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  57 

new  prices.  We  could  use  to  advantage  on  our 
estates  men  with  modern  ideas  and  capacity,  so 
we  encouraged  the  new  development  by  every 
means  in  our  power.  Thus  it  came  about  that  one 
leader  in  the  villagers*  "revolutionary"  group  be- 
came our  head  machinist  and  was  paid  city  wages 
and  given  a  cottage  in  our  courtyard.  From  being 
called  "Thou"  he  became  "Mr.  Tiltzoff,"  and  he 
took  tea  on  occasions  with  the  superintendent  (who 
before  had  looked  down  upon  him),  since  in  the  new 
order  of  things  he  was  one  of  the  mainstays  upon 
whom  our  administration  leaned.  There  was  an- 
other man,  handsome  and  of  a  high-bred  type  of 
face,  Afxentieff ,  who,  with  flaming  eyes  and  old  Greek 
features,  had  the  grace  one  meets  with  often  in  Little- 
Russia,  while  he  doffed  his  cap  as  if  he  were  at 
court.  He  could  make  his  men  and  cattle  do  any- 
thing. A  natural  eader  he  was,  though  he  drank 
on  occasions,  and  could  neither  read  nor  write.  He 
had  the  reputation  of  being  "very  red,"  but  he  had 
shown  up  splendidly  once  at  a  fire,  when  organizing 
the  arrangements  for  life-saving;  and  again,  when 
there  had  been  a  marsh  to  deepen  and  turn  into  a 
lake  in  the  park  grounds,  he  had  forced  men  and 
horses  to  do  work  supposedly  impossible,  by  the  sheer 
strength  of  his  will-power.  We  had  admired  him, 
though  we  were  told  of  his  defects.  Considering 
his  qualities  to  be  greater  than  the  faults,  my  hus- 
band used  his  influence  to  try  the  young  man  in  a 
serious  post  of  responsibility,  and  to  gradually  pro- 
mote him  to  the  position  of  head  of  the  farm  stock 


58  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

and  second  in  command  for  the  agricultural  work  on 
the  estates.  Proud  of  his  place  and  of  the  implied 
confidence,  Afxentieff  had  thereafter  proved  himself 
admirable  at  his  work. 

Ten  years  later,  when  the  war  came,  when  no  vodka 
and  fair  pay  had  made  the  village  rich,  the  place 
and  our  people  were  good  to  look  upon  as  never 
before.  Though  many  of  the  best  men  were  mobil- 
ized as  soldiers,  they  returned  on  leave  occasionally 
and  brought  back  news  which  educated  the  mul- 
titude. This  little  corner  learned  something  of  the 
outside  world,  through  tales  of  East  Prussia,  Poland, 
and  Galicia,  where  the  soldiers  fought  and  saw  many 
sights  of  interest,  and  where  they  grew  to  know  a 
civilization  more  advanced  than  was  that  of  their 
home.  Meantime,  also,  the  women  of  the  village 
were  learning  much,  and  could  do  a  man's  work  on 
our  lands  or  on  theirs.  They  handled  their  family 
incomes,  decided  the  daily  questions  of  their  own 
and  their  children's  lives,  they  guided  their  house- 
holds and  learned  to  spend  money  at  will — for  food 
or  ribbons,  for  furniture  and  clothes.  The  Austrian 
prisoners  who  worked  among  us  had  been  educa- 
tional elements  also  in  many  ways,  while  the  great- 
est influence  of  all  was  that  of  Batioushka,  the  new 
young  village  priest.  He  had  come  with  his  wife  to 
Bouromka  just  before  the  war,  had  not  yet  grown 
tired  with  age  nor  inert  with  discouragement,  and  he 
worked  and  lived  among  his  people,  teaching  them 
not  only  to  pray  and  confess  their  sins,  but  also  to 
build  up  their  fortunes  and  their  health  and  spirits. 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  59 

He  trained  them  even  to  amuse  themselves,  which 
they  had  never  done  before;  and  he  put  a  new  in- 
telligence into  their  heads  and  a  new  zest  into  their 
bodies.  Houses  grew  better,  food  more  varied  and 
healthier,  and  the  village  life  was  busier  and  gayer. 
But  even  with  all  this  there  was  still  a  long  distance 
to  travel  before  our  semi-Oriental  country  could 
catch  up  with  the  western  parts  of  Europe. 

Then  came  the  winter  of  1916-17,  when  vague 
rumors  reached  us  from  the  North  of  factory  hands 
who  were  striking  in  the  cities,  of  lack  of  food  there; 
and  even  of  misery  at  the  front,  where  the  soldiers 
were  not  being  well  fed  as  heretofore,  and  where 
discontent  was  rife  over  the  hard  life,  while  am- 
munition was  still  wofully  lacking  because  of  bad 
transportation.  And  who  was  to  blame  ?  asked  the 
people ;  and  the  answer  always  was,  The  government. 
Had  not  the  strong  German  party,  with  the  Em- 
press and  her  proteges  in  charge,  done  many  wrong 
things?  They  had  sent  the  Czar  to  the  staff,  one 
heard,  and  had  driven  the  Grand  Duke  away;  he 
who  loved  the  people  and  knew  about  making  war. 
.  ,v.  It  was  said  by  Peter  or  by  Ivan,  who  re- 
turned on  leave,  that  a  man  had  visited  their 
regiment  and  had  told  how  he  knew  all  of  what 
occurred  in  Petrograd.  It  was  quite  true,  some 
ministers  were  trying  to  sell  us  to  the  enemy,  while 
the  soldiers  fought  and  died;  and  some  others  at 
court  were  writing  to  the  enemy's  government,  and 
provisions  were  being  deliberately  kept  from  the 
firing-line.  There  was  each  day  less  bread  and  meat 


60  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

in  Petrograd,  said  this  wise  stranger.  Almost  no 
food  or  fuel  reached  the  poor  in  the  capital,  though 
those  who  stole  from  the  people  lived  in  the  greatest 
luxury.  One  could  see  how  things  were  going,  since 
even  here  in  the  village  tea  and  such  small  luxuries 
were  becoming  scarce.  Later  on  came  "  travellers " 
to  the  village,  who  were  "wise,"  and  who  knew 
what  was  occurring  in  the  world,  they  said ;  and  they 
remained  on  a  few  days,  fraternizing  with  the  peo- 
ple, reading  "red"  newspapers  to  them,  and  saying 
many  curious  things;  among  others  that  the  Ger- 
mans were  not  really  bad,  but  much  like  us;  that 
soldiers  might  fight  battles  and  yet  between  times 
be  friends  with  the  enemy,  and  even  exchange  pro- 
visions occasionally  across  the  trenches,  receiving 
coffee  and  other  excellent  things  for  loaves  of  the 
black  bread  which  wearied  our  men.  What  was 
bad  was  the  German  Government,  and  the  Kaiser; 
but  had  we  not  troubles  with  our  own  government 
and  the  protected  few  at  its  head  ?  It  was  impos- 
sible that  one's  Czar  should  know  what  happened 
everywhere,  or  how  many  there  were  who  cheated. 
He  could  not  possibly  see  everything.  Now  the 
government  was  selling  bonds  for  a  new  loan,  and 
one  of  the  "strangers"  said  he  knew  there  was  no 
more  gold  to  pay  for  these,  so  the  paper  would  be 
good  for  nothing  and  the  peasantry  had  better  not 
buy  it.  Of  course,  he  added,  officers,  police  offi- 
cials, and  the  bureaucrats  would  say  one  must  do 
so;  but  such  men  were  all  in  league,  and  had 
always  been  ready  to  exploit  those  who  were  be- 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  61 

neath  them.  They  did  not  even  want  our  masses 
to  know  reading,  nor  have  any  comforts;  and  now 
they  were  down  on  the  Duma,  which  would  soon  be 
closed  by  proclamation  from  above.  The  people 
were  strong,  however,  at  last,  and  were  learning  to 
understand,  so  the  tyrants  must  beware.  Thus 
through  the  months  villages,  even  far  away  in  the 
provinces,  were  prepared  by  agitators  for  what  was 
to  come,  and  when  at  last  one  day  in  early  March, 
1917,  they  heard  of  the  revolution  they  were  far  from 
surprised.  In  Bouromka  the  people  took  it  very 
quietly,  and  felt  at  first  no  difference,  only  they 
hoped  to  see  a  mending  of  their  troubles.  Isolated 
as  our  peasantry  had  been,  living  in  one  of  the 
richest  provinces  of  Russia's  black-earth  district, 
they  felt  the  general  misery  perhaps  less  than  did 
the  rest  of  Russia.  Their  individual  ownership  of 
property  had  made  for  conservatism,  and  well- 
being  was  also  fostered  by  the  instruction  we  had 
helped  to  give  them  during  several  years  previously. 
Every  effort  had  been  made  to  put  the  best  pos- 
sible advantages  allowed  by  the  government  within 
their  reach,  even  to  the  extent  of  a  new  school  and  a 
small  public  library,  which  under  the  protection  of 
the  village  church,  helped  the  younger  element 
vastly.  It  was  difficult  to  do  much  in  this  line 
though,  as  the  ministry  of  education  allowed  no 
books  put  into  the  hands  of  the  peasantry,  except 
such  as  were  approved  by  their  own  censors.  The 
regular  schools  were  either  under  the  same  authori- 
ties or  supervised  by  the  church,  and  were  all  that 


62  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

was  primitive  in  their  programmes;  but  the  people 
improved  greatly  in  spite  of  these  difficulties,  and 
both  Bouromka's  schools  overflowed  with  children, 
who  were  clean  and  better  dressed  than  ever  before. 
On  the  whole,  the  inhabitants  of  our  villages  were 
sensible  of  their  progress,  and  were  contented  and 
quite  unambitious  politically,  and  also  they  were  sus- 
picious of  new  doctrines.  They  seemed  entirely  un- 
interested as  to  the  Emperor's  abdication,  much  to 
our  ^surprise,  and  equally  so  as  to  the  rest  of  the 
revolution,  save  only  the  right  they  now  felt  given 
them  to  govern  themselves  by  a  committee.  They 
proceeded  at  once  to  elect  one,  showing  great  com- 
mon sense  in  their  choice  of  members.  It  really  rep- 
resented the  best  elements  of  their  group.  What 
delighted  the  people  most  was  to  hear  that  they 
"were  free,"  whatever  that  conveyed  to  them;  and 
that  they  were  to  have  all  the  lands.  From  where, 
they  asked,  was  this  to  come?  Should  they  take 
over  to  themselves  the  estate  of  Bouromka  totally, 
with  its  riches  in  cattle,  and  stud,  and  farms  ?  .  .  . 
Should  they  divide  it  among  themselves?  They 
had  some  hesitation  about  this,  since  they  wished 
the  proprietors  no  harm,  they  said,  and  had  always 
lived  well  with  the  latter.  Besides,  how  would  it 
be  divided?  Ivan,  who  is  a  ne'er-do-well,  must 
not  have  as  good  ground  as  Dimitry,  who  is  thrifty; 
and  then,  which  would  take  the  meadows,  which  the 
forests,  and  which  the  agricultural  steppe-lands, 
with  their  black  earth  ?  If  the  house  and  park  were 
to  be  divided,  too,  who  could  live  in  such  a  palace, 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  63 

for  the  whole  village  could  not  find  room  within  its 
walls  ?  And  a  rumor  came  which  was  very  disturb- 
ing, saying  that  they  alone  would  not  be  given 
Bouromka;  but  that,  from  the  North  and  East, 
where  the  earth  was  poor,  would  come  people  to 
our  rich  provinces  of  the  Ukraine ;  and  that  we  must 
subdivide  equally  with  all  of  these.  Dimitry,  who 
had  saved  and  had  bought  as  much  as  fifteen  acres 
only  last  year,  and  those  other  fifty  men  or  more  of 
the  village  who  owned  anywhere  now  from  twenty 
to  one  hundred  acres  each,  must  throw  in  their 
fields  too  for  the  general  subdivision.  In  short,  all 
the  country  would  be  parcelled  out,  till  every  one 
in  Russia  received  his  small  legal  share  of  ground  to 
cultivate.  .  .  .  No,  this  was  a  mistake,  and  quite 
impossible,  said  our  group  of  well-to-do  peasants; 
how  could  men  not  "ours"  think  of  appearing  here 
in  Little-Russia  and  swamping  us,  and  take  away  our 
hard-earned  profits  ?  By  what  right,  when  we  had 
striven  and  saved,  and  each  created  his  small  for- 
tune? "If  it  was  so,  then  let  things  stand  as  they 
are,  and  let  our  Princes  keep  their  land,  and  we  each 
ours;  and  we  will  go  on  with  our  work.  .  .  ."  The 
committee  said  workmen  must  be  better  paid,  so 
higher  wages  were  demanded  and  conceded,  and 
for  the  moment  land  remained  undivided,  at  least 
in  this  corner  of  Russia.  As  far  as  the  rest  of  the 
country  went  I  cannot  say,  but  the  administration 
of  the  Bouromka  committee  was  most  reasonable, 
and  was  advantageous  for  every  one,  as  it  decided 
all  questions  with  great  fairness  and  common  sense, 


64  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

and  the  members  showed  themselves  very  conser- 
vative. Michael- Petrovitch,  the  head  intendant-of 
the  estate,  was  adroit  and  blessed  with  great  ca- 
pacity for  handling  men,  and  by  his  diplomacy 
through  six  or  eight  long  months  he  managed  to 
live  with  his  own  people  in  peace  and  perfect  un- 
derstanding, to  sow  and  reap  and  sell  our  harvest, 
and  to  put  things  in  order  for  the  winter.  Faith- 
fully he  served  in  this  his  employers,  as  he  had  al- 
ways done  before. 

The  autumn  of  the  year  1917  brought  great 
changes.  Just  as  Michael-Petrovitch  thought  all 
was  well  the  Bolsheviki  took  over  the  government 
in  Petrograd,  and  the  Ukrainians  took  over  Kief. 
To  Bouromka  came,  one  day  soon  afterward,  a  new 
committee  from  outside,  preaching  fiery  red  doc- 
trines. It  was  composed  of  a  delegate  or  two  from 
the  factory  workmen's  Soviet  at  Poltava,  together 
with  student  and  Jewish  propagandists,  and  they 
settled  down  for  some  time  in  the  village.  They 
preached  to  the  peasants  the  oppressions  which  all 
the  world  had  practised  till  now  on  the  poorer  classes, 
and  the  millennium  which  at  last  was  dawning  for 
these  in  Russia.  Our  people  were  coming  into  their 
own,  but  they  must  rise  up  and  punish  the  masters, 
who  so  far  had  kept  every  good  thing  to  themselves. 
They  would  conquer  here  and  then  send  ambassa- 
dors out,  to  carry  the  new  gospel  into  other  coun- 
tries, and  give  to  those  the  same  liberty  as  would 
exist  at  home.  .  To  prove  their  good  faith,  the 
agents  had  brought  with  them  vodka  in  large  sup- 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  65 

plies,  as  a  gift.  Before,  this  had  been  the  people's 
solace,  they  said,  and  it  had  been  suppressed  by  the 
upper  classes  only  to  deprive  the  poor.  Also  they 
had  brought  gold.  Strange  gold,  not  with  our 
home  double-headed  eagle  and  the  usual  stamp  of 
the  Russian  Emperor's  face,  but  with  curious  Gothic 
words  and  signs  we  had  not  known  before.  The 
people  wondered  as  they  listened  to  the  strangers' 
tale,  for  it  seemed  this  gold  was  sent  to  them  by 
their  brother  republicans,  across  the  frontier.  At 
first  they  took  it  with  suspicion  and  showed  it  to 
the  elders  of  the  village;  these  in  turn  heard  from 
Rabinovitch,  the  village  Jew,  that  whatever  the 
stamp,  it  was  certainly  good  gold,  and  worth  more 
than  even  the  old-regime  paper  money,  not  to 
mention  the  small,  miserable  "kerenki"  scraps 
of  provisional-government  money.  The  vodka  the 
strangers  brought  was  also  found  excellent.  One 
felt  wanned  up,  stronger  and  braver  for  drinking  it. 
Some  of  the  women  protested,  and  Batioushka  for- 
bade; but  the  men  said  the  women  knew  nothing, 
and  Batioushka  wore  skirts  also  and  did  not  count. 
What  could  he  judge — he  who  had  never  cared  for 
it?  They,  who  had  returned  after  three  years  at 
the  front,  knew  well  that  vodka  was  a  pleasant 
thing,  and  they  had  tasted  little  of  it  in  the  hard  life 
on  the  fighting  line.  It  was,  indeed,  fine  to  be  free 
again  of  the  discipline  in  trench  and  field.  True, 
their  officers  and  they  had  been  together  for  three 
years,  fighting  Germans  and  Austrians,  hating  them, 
striving,  and  dying;  often  with  empty  stomachs, 


66  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

almost  constantly  with  empty  guns.  ...  It  was 
very  strange  and  difficult  to  understand  the  great 
changes.  .  .  .  When  their  call  had  first  come,  they 
had  been  rushed  off  and  put  into  regiments.  They 
went  under  fire  at  once,  and  what  a  fire — with  ter- 
rible sufferings  from  gas,  and  cold,  and  heat,  and 
lack  of  care !  Food,  munitions,  clothes,  letters  from 
home,  and  everything  else  had  been  lacking,  or 
came  always  late.  .  .  .  Yet  they  had  believed  in 
the  Grand  Duke  and  his  greatness,  and  he  was  at 
the  staff.  He  wished  them  to  hold  on  still,  and  to 
fight  the  enemy  for  their  country's  sake  and  that 
of  their  own  hearths,  as  well  as  for  the  Little  Father, 
their  White  Czar;  and  many  times  the  things  they 
patiently  expected  did  arrive  somehow  finally;  and 
with  these  were  sometimes  little  gifts  from  home, 
even  things  the  wives  had  cooked,  or  knit,  or  sewn. 
.  .  .  Rolled  bundles  were  sent,  too,  containing  a  fresh 
change  of  linen,  with  tobacco  or  sugar,  and  now 
and  then  a  knife  or  book,  or  a  bit  of  gay  soap  or  a 
colored  handkerchief.  These  were  from  the  officers* 
wives,  while  the  officers  themselves  clubbed  together 
occasionally  to  give  their  men  warm  woollen  things, 
or  better  food,  when  in  some  town  near  by  provisions 
could  be  bought.  If  ammunition  was  lacking,  the 
officers  were  as  sad  as  their  men,  and  they  had 
talked  to  the  latter  as  to  their  own  children,  encour- 
aging them  to  hold  on  with  what  they  had  against 
the  enemy:  sticks  or  stones  or  bricks,  but  generally 
guns  remained  unloaded.  .  .  .  Officers  and  men  had 
stood  together,  were  wounded  or  killed,  and  fell  like 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  67 

flies  during  the  slow  retreats.  During  these  times 
refugees  fled  inward  toward  the  centre  of  the  coun- 
try, while  our  troops  had  held  the  lines  in  spite  of  all 
disadvantages  to  give  opportunity  for  this.  Then 
slowly  the  armies  had  ceded,  mile  upon  mile,  of  a 
land  which  was  being  set  on  fire  as  they  quitted  it. 
Fields  with  vast  grain  crops,  chateaux,  forests,  parks, 
towns,  and  villages  were  one  vast  sheet  of  flame, 
sacrificed  to  prevent  the  enemy  profiting  too  much. 
The  whole  world  seemed  a  burning  hell  to  march 
through,  in  the  summer  of  1915.  A  shrieking  horde 
of  misery  drew  back  before  the  foe.  The  Grand 
Duke  had  been  furious  at  the  necessity  of  this  suffer- 
ing, and  he  had  demanded  the  severest  punishment 
for  those  who  caused  it;  but  nothing  had  happened, 
except  that  the  Grand  Duke  himself  had  been  sent 
away.  This  went  to  show,  the  soldiers  said,  it  was 
no  good  to  complain  since,  whether  great  or  small, 
one  would  only  be  beaten  for  it.  Things  went  from 
bad  to  worse  forever  after,  and,  as  the  months 
passed,  officers  couldn't  help  their  men  as  much; 
perhaps  because,  as  they  said,  they  were  too  poor 
themselves.  All  life  at  home  had  grown  expensive, 
and  those  who  came  out  to  the  front  in  the  last 
mobilizations  had  been  much  older  men,  or  else 
young  boy  recruits.  These  brought  reports  of 
wickedness  and  cheating  in  certain  high  circles,  of 
troubles  ever  greater  among  the  lower  classes,  and 
of  the  revolution  which  was  promised  soon.  .  .  . 

Then  it  came,  and  they  heard  the  Emperor  had 
quietly  left  his  crown  and  throne  and  given  over 


68  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

his  power  to  the  people.  In  the  army  officers  were 
now  to  command  only  with  the  consent  of  their  sol- 
diers. The  soldiers  were  to  have  committees  and 
to  decide  everything,  even  as  to  their  obedience 
to  military  plans.  They  had  the  right  now  to  de- 
bate upon  these  and  to  discuss,  until  they  under- 
stood them.  Many  agents  at  once  had  circulated 
among  the  troops,  pointing  out  how  the  officers 
would  hate  all  this,  would  dislike  to  have  their  power 
taken  from  them,  and  would  not  willingly  accept  the 
soldiers  as  their  "comrades."  In  many  battles,  one 
must  admit,  the  officers  had  shown  immense  bravery. 
They  had  thrown  themselves  forward  in  recent 
charges,  often  quite  alone,  hoping  their  men  would 
be  carried  along  by  old  habit,  and  they  had  been 
assassinated  thus  in  quantities  at  Tarnopol,  or  so 
Nikita  had  related  to  the  village  when  he  returned 
from  there.  In  his  regiment,  he  said,  out  of  thirty- 
seven  officers,  thirty  had  been  killed;  and  in  Dimi- 
try's  regiment,  in  the  same  battle,  twenty-seven  out 
of  thirty  had  been  left  upon  the  field,  while  not  a 
soldier  had  died,  save  perhaps  a  very  few  from  stray 
bullets.  The  ranks  had  stood  still  or  had  fled ;  and 
some  of  those  new  fellows,  who  called  themselves 
high  priests  of  the  revolutionary  ideals,  had  even 
laughed  or  jeered  when  the  older  veterans  wished 
to  follow  and  to  help  their  lieutenants  and  their 
captains,  who  were  being  shot  down  like  helpless 
dogs.  .  .  .  Possibly  it  is  just  for  each  new  govern- 
ment to  make  some  group  or  class  into  martyrs  ?  .  .  . 
But  it  was  hard  for  our  lieutenant,  said  Dimitry. 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  69 

He  was  but  eighteen,  and  had  always  been  kind  and 
ready  to  help  his  men ;  and  he  had  thought  of  them 
always  before  stopping  to  think  of  himself.  Still 
the  Bolsheviki  agents  seemed  very  wise  .  .  .  and 
they  could  read!  They  said  it  was  surely  so:  that 
now  was  come  the  time  when  the  soldier  was  free. 
There  were  many  of  our  men  at  the  front  to  fight 
Germans,  the  agents  proclaimed ;  and  the  enemy  was 
ready  for  peace  anyway.  He  could  never  reach  our 
provinces  before  the  end  of  the  war.  It  would 
be  much  better,  therefore,  if  those  troops  who  came 
from  Bouromka,  or  from  farther  East,  went  home 
and  helped  "protect  the  revolution"  there,  and  or- 
ganized free  government,  with  committees  such  as 
they  had  seen  in  the  army.  .  .  .  Besides,  all  the 
land  was  to  be  divided  very  soon  among  the  peas- 
ants, and,  who  knows?  the  village  elders  might 
arrange  that  the  best  bits  go  to  themselves  in 
others'  absence?  Surely,  therefore,  there  was  no 
time  to  lose  in  leaving  the  war;  and  even  if  the 
officers  thought  differently  they  could  not  audibly 
object,  nor  could  they  punish  desertion,  since  one 
of  the  new  laws  said  most  clearly  that  soldiers  were 
now  free  to  obey  or  not,  according  to  their  own 
judgment.  .  .  .  Truly  it  was  now  a  good  time  to 
be  alive!  .  .  .  So,  with  illusions  freshly  poured 
into  them,  the  village  men  had  returned  to  quiet 
Bouromka,  riding  on  the  tops  of  cars  part  way,  and 
for  the  rest  in  first-class  carriages,  there  sleeping  in 
the  corridors  and  on  the  platforms.  One  night, 
some  said,  they  had  taken  possession  even  of  a  re- 


70  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

served  compartment,  smashing  its  windows  to  get 
in;  and  there  some  women  and  two  children  slept, 
who  had  been  at  first  greatly  frightened.  But  the 
soldiers  explained  to  them  there  was  no  place  else- 
where on  the  train,  and  that  they  would  not  disturb, 
only  they  wished  to  travel  and  had  found  no  other 
means.  One  had  sat  on  the  floor,  and  two  more  on 
the  upper  berth,  from  which  they  had  brought  home 
as  gifts  to  their  wives  the  pillows,  blankets,  covers, 
and  the  sheets !  During  the  trip  they  very  much 
enjoyed  talking  with  the  women  travellers  and  telling 
them  of  their  life  under  fire;  and  they  played  with 
the  children  and  received  apples  and  biscuits  from 
these,  because  they  had  brought  water  for  tea,  or 
had  helped  amuse  the  young  boy,  a  nice  child,  they 
said,  like  many  in  the  village.  .  .  .  Finally  they 
arrived  at  Palmyra  station,  and  came  from  there  on 
foot  for  over  fifty  versts,  sleeping  in  the  fields  under 
the  stars.  It  was  good  to  feel  one  wouldn't  be 
awakened  by  a  bomb,  said  the  deserters,  and  to 
know  that  very  soon  these  fine  acres  would  be  all 
theirs.  They  had  found  the  village  quiet,  somewhat 
discontented  to  be  doing  without  tea,  sugar,  and 
other  luxuries,  but  otherwise  much  as  of  old.  Only 
a  committee  of  the  elders  existed,  and  were  govern- 
ing since  the  spring.  .  .  .  With  Batioushka  and 
the  Prince's  head  intendant,  they  were  managing 
everything,  about  like  in  olden  days.  .  .  .  This  must 
be  changed  quickly  and  surely;  and  also,  it  would 
need  much  time  and  trouble  to  bring  back  into 
their  proper  places  the  village  women.  All  of  them, 
Matrona  and  Warka,  Louba  and  Sonia,  and  even 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  71 

mild  E vdoxia  were  not  to  be  recognized ! .  .  .    Dressed 

in  fine  clothes,  ordering  about  the  Austrian  prisoners, 
smiling  and  powerful,  capable  and  wasteful,  talking 
much  of  their  new  right  to  vote !  •  It  was  so  amaz- 
ing that  the  recently  arrived  lords  and  masters  for  a 
time  quite  lost  their  capacity  of  action.  Then  each 
one  got  his  breath  again,  and  did  as  he  saw  fit 
within  his  own  house.  Vania  had  knuckled  down 
and  worked  under  his  Louba's  orders,  while  the  Aus- 
trian had  remained  in  the  house,  and  become  his 
friend.  Dimitry  had  soon  put  out  the  intruder,  and 
had  Sonia  well  in  hand;  while  the  others  had  made 
arrangements  between  these  two  extremes,  accord- 
ing to  their  mental  and  their  physical  capacities 
for  handling  so  delicate  a  situation.  .  .  .  They  all 
told  of  their  experiences  at  the  front,  and  of  what 
the  wise  men  had  said;  and  the  elders  understood 
that  this  must  be  all  quite  true,  since  the  informa- 
tion the  agents  had  given  them  was  all  "printed  on 
paper"!  These  "rules,"  the  men  said,  had  been 
read  out  to  the  soldiers  from  the  papers,  but  pri- 
vately, of  course;  because  the  officers  must  not  yet 
know  of  the  great  promises  for  the  future.  Some- 
times one  did  feel  sorry  for  one's  officers,  and  for 
the  proprietors,  also,  who  were  like  those  of  Bou- 
romka;  yet  it  was  only  justice,  and  the  wise  agents 
explained  that  some  good  people  must  suffer,  since 
so  many  of  their  group  had  done  harm ;  and  after  all 
even  the  best  had  joined  with  the  worst  to  deprive 
peasants  and  soldiers  of  their  rights  and  hold  them 
down. 
It  was  very  shortly  after  the  soldiers  returned  from 


72  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

war  that  the  outside  committee  settled  in  Bouromka. 
Ready-made  by  the  chief  Soviets  at  Poltava,  with 
vodka,  gold  coins;  also  printed  papers,  prepared  to 
read  at  meetings,  which  latter  were  held  daily. 
Speeches  were  made.  The  peasants  were  told,  till 
they  clearly  understood  ,rhow  they  had  been  wronged ; 
and  then  suddenly  one  day  the  student,  who  had 
possessed  a  silver  tongue,  cried  to  his  audience: 
"Come,  if  at  last  you  are  convinced,  come  with  me 
and  we  will  go  to  the  distillery  now;  attack  and  cap- 
ture it,  and  drink  the  vodka  of  which  you  have 
been  deprived  too  long.  It  is  a  cold  night,  and  our 
supply  here  is  finished.  What  is  there,  will  be 
warming  when  you  have  drunk  as  much  as  you 
wish;  and  afterward  you  may  bring  back  a  cow  or 
two  for  the  children  of  the  village,  who  shall  thus 
have  better  milk;  and  you  shall  take  the  chateau's 
oxen  also,  to  plough  your  fields.  These  oxen  are 
no  longer,  even  in  name,  the  Prince's,  but  are  strictly 
yours  now  by  legal  right,  to  take  and  keep.*'  The 
men  hesitated,  but  vodka  was  again  passed  about 
and  soon  infused  daring.  It  was  a  fine  moonlight 
night,  so  the  walk  to  the  farm  courtyard  was  tempt- 
ing and  easy.  A  hundred  or  more  of  the  bravest 
spirits  were  moving  in  that  direction  shortly,  sing- 
ing a  wild  chorus,  led  by  the  enthusiastic,  wise 
strangers.  Afxientieff  heard  the  rumors  and  the 
noise,  and  he  rushed  to  meet  the  crowd  of  rowdies 
at  his  locked  courtyard  gate.  He  called  on  a  work- 
man or  two  who  were  up  on  night  guard  duty,  and 
he  sent  a  hurried  message  to  our  intendant-in-chief , 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  73 

who  lived  at, the  other  courtyard,  a  mile  off.  Be- 
fore the  latter  could  arrive  with  help  there  appeared 
a  disorderly  throng  of  peasants,  shouting,  crying, 
swaying  as  they  marched;  and  though  Afxientieff 
made  an  attempt  to  harangue  them,  and  his  white 
face  and  blazing  eyes  did  make  the  front  ones  hesi- 
tate, he  had  been  swept  aside  very  quickly  by  the 
paid  leaders,  while  the  rollickers  pushed  on  and 
broke  in  the  distillery  door,  in  spite  of  its  locks  and 
of  the  government  seal  upon  it.  Then  the  village 
men,  frantic  with  the  alcohol's  odor,  as  it  fermented 
in  the  vats,  precipitated  themselves  to  quench  their 
thirst,  first  from  the  small  hogsheads,  and  then  even 
from  the  vats  themselves.  They  drank  deeply, 
until  they  fell  down,  completely  unconscious  and  in- 
capacitated. It  was  then  the  leaders  acted.  They 
rolled  quickly  a  number  of  barrels  into  the  court- 
yard and  out  into  the  road,  where  a  wagon  was 
waiting  to  cart  this  precious  fluid  (their  best  ally) 
away  to  their  village  headquarters.  They  looked 
about,  and  one  said  to  the  others:  "Much  breakage, 
no  respect  for  seals,  the  second  intendant  injured, 
the  vodka  stolen,  and  the  men  who  have  succumbed 
are  our  creatures  hereafter."  And  another  an- 
swered: "Yes,  the  owners  may  retaliate;  that  would 
be  advantageous;  for  when  the  feeling  is  as  good  as 
here  our  work  is  much  too  slow  and  expensive." 
"True,"  said  a  third.  "I  had  hoped  we  could  at- 
tack the  other  courtyard  and  perhaps  even  the 
house  to-night;  but  now  we  must  wait,  for  these 
swine  are  so  slow  and  stupid;  and  besides  they  are 


74  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

dead  drunk  and  cannot  even  move."  Just  then 
they  all  started  as  if  frightened.  Had  some  one 
overheard  their  remarks,  which  were  spoken  low 
and  in  German  ?  But  it  was  not  so;  it  was  a  man 
lying  on  the  edge  of  the  vat,  who  had  lost  his  bal- 
ance and  had  fallen  into  the  fermenting  spirits. 
There,  all  unconsciously,  he  was  drowning,  yet  none 
of  the  leaders  stretched  out  a  hand  to  save  him. 
They  merely  looked,  shrugged  their  shoulders, 
yawned,  and  turned  away  to  walk  back  to  their 
quarters  at  the  village. 

Within  a  week  another  raid  occurred,  on  the  re- 
mains pf  the  distillery,  and,  strong  in  the  artificial 
courage  the  vodka  gave  the  crowd,  it  had  then  in- 
terviewed Michael  P6trovitch  at  the  intendant-in- 
chief  's  own  house.  They  had  confiscated,  in  spite  of 
his  protests,  all  the  cattle,  the  horses,  the  machine- 
shops,  and  the  stables,  with  their  supplies  of  im- 
plements and  harness,  wagons  and  fine  carriages. 
These  were  the  people's  too;  and  would  be  given 
over  to  them  very  soon  by  the  government  law;  so 
they  were  merely  anticipating,  said  the  wise  men 
who  led  the  wreckers.  In  the  machine-shops  Tilt- 
zoff  and  his  few  helpers  had  resisted,  while  at 
the  stables  and  the  stud,  the  old  coachman  and  a 
few  faithful  servants  had  done  likewise;  but  with 
the  same  results  as  when  Afxientieff  had  been  swept 
aside  at  the  farmyard  a  week  earlier.  Our  protectors 
were  only  about  twenty  in  all,  and  there  were  many 
more  than  that  of  the  village  hotheads,  some  of 
whom  were  growing  into  first-class  revolutionary 


BJEVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  75 

leaders.  The  three  or  four  strangers  were  clever 
inspirers  of  action,  and  were  spokesmen  ready  with 
quick  replies  for  every  protest  of  the  intendants. 
So  all  gave  way  before  the  rule  of  the  strongest,  and 
there  was  a  sudden  wish  expressed  to  visit  the 
chateau.  This  was  done  immediately.  The  an- 
cient collections  of  arms,  as  well  as  the  cupboards 
containing  our  modern  guns  used  in  the  shooting 
season,  were  handed  over  to  the  "committee"  by 
the  head  house-steward.  They  were  carted  away 
for  safe-keeping  in  the  village !  The  various  cup- 
boards and  the  wine-cellars  of  the  chateau  were  all 
sealed,  and  clothes  with  books  and  everything  else 
necessary  to  the  family's  life  were  thus  left  locked 
up  in  comparative  safety;  but  were,  of  course,  no 
longer  attainable  by  their  ancient  owners — ourselves. 
The  intendant,  his  wife,  and  their  fourteen  children 
were  left  tranquil  in  their  home,  while  the  house- 
keeper, the  majordomo,  and  various  other  ancient 
servants  were  allowed  to  remain  in  their  rooms  in 
one  wing  of  the  chateau,  till  it  should  be  decided  to 
what  use  the  immense  place  could  be  put :  whether 
that  of  a  house  of  public  amusement  or  a  school. 
During  two  or  three  months  this  question  was  daily 
brought  up  for  discussion  at  the  village  meetings. 
The  leaders  recommended  complete  destruction,  and 
said  that  it  would  be  great  trouble  and  work  to  keep 
such  a  vast  building  heated.  The  village  elders, 
with  their  peasant's  common  sense,  advocated  leav- 
ing the  house  as  it  was:  "One  must  leave  something 
to  the  Princes,  and  the  house  is  nothing  to  us,  since 


76  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

we  have  the  land  already  and  all  that  goes  to  make 
it  rich.  Besides,  their  clothes  and  dishes  are  their 
own  in  all  justice,  for  the  new  law  speaks  only  about 
the  land.  And  then,  who  knows?  these  wise  men 
talk  well;  but  perhaps  they  make  mistakes;  and 
some  day  we  may  hear  of  different  rules  again. 
The  Princes  may  return  and  ask  what  has  been  done 
with  their  palace,  and  clothes,  and  other  things. 
If  all  is  lost,  we  may  well  be  punished  for  stealing. 
Yes,  truly,  better  we  leave  the  chateau  alone." 
There  were  some  timid  spirits,  who  already  trem- 
bled as  to  the  results  of  their  present  bravery. 
"We  know,"  they  said,  "now  it  is  all  take  and 
enjoy;  and  soon  after  it  will  be  restitution  and  pay- 
ment called  for;  and  we  shall  be  beaten  then!" 
"Who  can  beat  you  now?  for  this  is  a  republic," 
cried  the  leaders.  "Naturally,  naturally;  we  have 
heard  that.  First  come  people  and  say  to  us:  be 
for  an  autocracy,  it  is  great  in  strength,  and  the 
sovereign  shall  love  and  care  for  his  people,  and  all 
will  be  well;  and  we  sing  the  anthem  and  cry  hurrah, 
and  are  for  an  autocracy.  And  next  comes  some 
one  who  says:  be  for  a  republic,  and  it  will  be  well, 
for  the  land  shall  belong  to  the  peasants,  and  they 
will  grow  rich  and  great;  and  he  teaches  us  a  song 
which  is  of  liberty,  and  tells  us  every  one  is  singing 
it  on  the  streets  in  Petrograd;  so  we  learn  that  new 
song,  and  cry  hurrah  and  seize  the  land.  Yet,  who 
knows?  Perhaps  we  may  still  be  unhappy,  for 
even  now  our  grain  is  taken  forcibly  from  us,  when- 
ever it  is  found,  and  we  are  paid  in  dirty  paper  slips 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  77 

without  value.  We  have  less  food  and  comfort 
than  before.  .  .  .  Later  maybe  some  man  will 
come  and  tell  us  there  is  a  republic  with  a  Czar 
in  Petrograd,  and  then  we  shall  again  cry  hurrah, 
and  learn  the  song  of  that  King,  and  we  will  both 
own  the  land  then,  and  also  be  taken  care  of  by  our 
Princes,  and  that  would  be  best  of  all!" 

Even  with  the  vodka's  help  and  the  foreign  lead- 
ers' best  persuasions,  it  took  some  time  to  accom- 
plish their  errand  of  complete  political  and  economic 
debauchery,  where  previous  good  relations  between 
proprietor  and  peasant  were  against  them;  and 
especially  where  all  the  heads  of  departments  on 
estates  came  from  the  latter  class,  and  so  under- 
stood their  own  people  well.  After  five  or  six 
months'  residence  in  Bouromka  the  strangers  won 
their  way,  however,  to  the  weak  spots  of  their  audi- 
ence's simple  understandings,  and  they  paid  for  this 
popularity  by  encouraging  every  vice  and  abuse 
which  was  latent  in  our  village. 

One  evening  finally,  in  the  spring  of  1918,  as 
darkness  descended,  the  ancient  majordomo  and 
old  "  grandmother  Anna  Wladimirovna,"  the  house- 
keeper, were  having  tea  together  in  the  latter's 
comfortable  sitting-room,  when  across  the  distance 
of  the  park  a  noise  reached  them — something  be- 
tween songs  and  buzzing  and  the  tramp  of  many  feet 
far  off.  "A  meeting,"  said  Moses  Kouzmitch.  .  .  . 
"Louder  than  usual;  they  have  been  drinking  again," 
answered  our  tranquil  housekeeper;  and  they  dis- 
cussed for  the  five-hundredth  time  the  revolution 


78  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

from  their  own  view-point:  "All  these  fools  know 
nothing  of  what  they  talk  about,"  said  the  old  man. 
"What  need  have  they  of  more  than  the  good  God 
and  the  Czar  have  given  them  ?  and  when  they  shall 
have  done  away  with  all  the  high-born  people,  who 
will  they  serve,  I  would  like  to  know?  and  steal 
from  comfortably  ?  and  who  will  care  for  them  ?  .  .  . 
Speransky  and  all  of  our  seigneurs  here  have  helped 
each  one  of  us  who  was  intelligent  or  capable  of 
moving  forward,  and  I  for  one  (who  am  eighty- 
three,  and  wiser  than  the  false  prophets  these  mad- 
caps run  after),  I  tell  you,  Anna,  who  are  young 
and  but  sixty-five,  that  I  will  not  serve  in  the  house 
of  peasants  become  rich,  who  cannot  read  or  write ! 
I  know  little  of  the  Czar  and  the  government;  but 
we  are  well  off  here,  and  when  I  was  in  St.  Peters- 
burg, fifty  years  ago,  with  our  Princess  Marie 
Alexandrovna,  I  saw  many  others  who  were  as  con- 
tent as  we  are.  When  one  has  lived  in  our  aristo- 
cratic palaces,  one  knows  the  difference  well  between 
them  and  such  a  house  as  even  rich  Dimitry  of  the 
village  would  keep." — "Moses  Kouzmitch,  I  who 
was  head  nurse  to  all  their  small  Highnesses,  know 
well  you  tell  the  truth;  and  each  of  us  who  have 
been  dressed,  and  warmed,  and  fed,  and  who  have 
pretty  cottages  in  the  village  to  retire  to,  and  a  sure 
pension  to  live  upon,  feel  as  you  do;  but  the  new 
generation  has  gone  quite  mad  and  realizes  nothing ! 
Why,  even  the  nieces  and  nephews  whom  I  feed 
always  from  the  chateau  pantry,  and  send  provi- 
sions to  of  the  best  in  my  storerooms,  are  that  un- 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  79 

grateful  they  would  pull  this  roof  down  over  our 
heads  if  they  could.  .  .  .  Strange,  that  noise;  is  it 
not  approaching  ?  Listen  !"  And  going  to  the  win- 
dow, she  drew  the  curtain  open  and  looked  over 
the  valley,  which  held  the  park  with  its  great  trees 
and  its  crystal  lake,  now  reflecting  the  full  moon. 
A  vast  noise  filled  the  little  room  as  she  opened  its 
window  and  leaned  out;  and  as  she  turned  again  it 
was  with  a  rapid  movement  not  usual  to  her  fat 
body.  "Heaven  help  us,  Moses  Kouzmitch;  run 
and  shut  and  bar  our  door,  while  I  telephone  Michael 
Petrovitch.  It  is  a  great  crowd  coming  up  the 
SpSransky-Alle'e,  and  the  procession  is  illuminated 
by  torches,  and  they  are  singing;  but  not  good  songs. 
It  is  as  if  they  were  all  crazy !  Thank  heaven,  the 
valuables  are  sent  to  Kief  since  long;  and  all  that 
silver,  too;  but  my  pearl  brooch  and  gold  earrings 
and  watch,  what  shall  I  do  to  hide  them?  In  my 
mattress,  perhaps  ?  or  only  in  my  pocket  with  my 
keys  ?  Who  ever  would  have  thought  that  I  would 
live  to  see  and  hear  such  things?  But,  of  course, 
Michael  P6trovitch  will  quiet  these  people  and  put 
them  in  their  place. "  And  she  disappeared,  frown- 
ing, down  the  corridor  toward  the  telephone.  Old 
Moses  Kouzmitch,  somewhat  hard  of  hearing  and 
dull  of  mind,  went  off  nodding  and  muttering  to  the 
door;  but  he  reached  it  only  in  time  to  meet  the 
intendant,  who  had  long  ago  realized  the  storm  was 
brewing,  and  who  came  running,  followed  by  Tilt- 
zoff,  Afxientieff,  and  his  other  lieutenants.  Even 
Kalaschnikoff,  head  of  the  huntsmen  and  kennels, 


80  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

came  with  his  long  whip,  and  Bibikoff  the  veterinary, 
and  the  old  coachman  Dimenti,  with  a  certain  num- 
ber of  other  men  true  to  their  responsibilities,  arrived, 
ready  to  measure  their  wits  and  strength  against 
the  strange  committee's  power.  In  a  few  minutes 
the  crowd  was  on  them,  with  shouts  and  threats  and 
snatches  of  song,  nearly  all  swinging  torches. 
"Come  to  burn  the  bourgeois  house!"  they  cried. 
.  .  .  Some  already  tottered  from  vodka,  while  others 
were  as  yet  only  red  of  face  and  thick  of  voice. 
Shouting  first:  "Tyrants !"  and  "This  is  all  ours !" 
they  finally  joined  in  the  cry  of:  "Give  us  the  cellar 
keys,  or  you  shall  be  burned  with  the  palace  which 
you  have  served !"  Long  parley;  the  leaders  egging 
on  the  muddled-headed  mob ;  the  intendant  with  his 
men  and  the  village  priest  and  elders  trying  to  keep 
their  people  within  bounds.  With  great  presence 
of  mind  "grandmother  Anna  Wladimirovna "  an- 
nounced calmly  that  she  had  lost  her  keys  last 
week,  and  in  proof  she  turned  her  pockets  inside 
out,  so  all  could  see  that  they  were  quite  empty. 
Then  the  crowd  was  told  by  Michael  Petrovitch  that 
the  cellars  had  been  sealed  by  the  village's  own  revo- 
lutionary committee  long  ago,  and  even  were  the 
keys  here,  it  would  not  be  the  law  for  him  to  open 
the  iron  door.  .  .  .  But  his  wish  for  peace  and 
his  tact  were  of  no  avail  that  night  against  the  in- 
flaming words  and  the  alcohol  his  rivals  distributed, 
and  soon  the  great  iron  doors  were  broken  in,  and  a 
wild  orgy  was  under  way  in  the  cellar  and  in  the 
courtyard;  while  a  chosen  few,  less  helpless  from 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  81 

drink  than  the  others,  found  occupation  in  system- 
atically destroying  first  its  furnishings,  then  the 
house,  throwing  the  former  into  the  courts  and  gar- 
dens, where  paintings,  china,  bronzes,  and  wood- 
carvings  lay  in  dismal  heaps,  and  embroidered 
silken  rags  or  fine  carpets  served  to  light  bonfires. 
Before  the  morning  a  greater  flame  than  these 
went  up,  and  the  ancient  picturesque  pile,  which 
had  been  the  proud  chateau  of  the  old  regime,  had 
died !  .  .  . 

The  sun  came  up  and  shone  on  a  sad  mass  of  black- 
ened walls,  gray  ashes,  and  broken  treasures  watered 
everywhere  by  rivulets  of  rare  vintage  were  strewn 
about.  In  the  midst  of  all  this  lay  many  wounded, 
while  numerous  others  were  lying  merely  sleeping 
off  the  effects  of  their  party  of  the  night  before. 
Afxientieff  had  a  bleeding  arm  and  hand,  Tiltzoff  a 
swollen  face  where  a  heavy  blow  had  fallen,  and  the 
intendant  was  all  black  from  smoke,  as  he  spoke 
with  them  in  a  low,  hoarse  voice:  "I  have  been  able 
to  save  so  little  in  the  confusion,"  he  said.  "Only 
some  papers  and  a  few  small  things.  What  will  the 
Princes  think?"  And  the  other  two  replied:  "You 
have  fought  bravely,  Michael  Petrovitch,  and  you 
will  be  condemned  by  these  hooligans  to  sure  death 
for  defending  all  this,  and  have  done  your  best. 
Go  you,  therefore,  with  your  wife  and  children  to 
the  district  town  near  by,  and  remain  there  at  Zol- 
tonosh.  We  are  old  revolutionaries  of  1905,  and 
we  will  remain  in  our  places  here,  since,  alas,  these 
fools  are  our  own  families  and  friends.  We  will  do 


82  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

all  we  can  to  save  what  is  left  of  the  property; 
faithfully  we  promise  it.  You  shall  report  to  the 
Princes,  and  then  send  us  their  orders,  and  we  will 
do  everything  to  carry  them  out."  And  so  it  was. 
Even  until  now  these  men  have  stayed  at  Bou- 
romka  in  the  two  courtyards,  representing  the  old 
owners'  interests,  as  against  their  people,  and  trying 
to  carry  out  what  the  intendant  ordered.  Of  late 
they  have  obtained  some  restitution  of  goods  which 
were  stolen.  Anna  Wladimirovna  luckily  was  spir- 
ited away  from  the  fire  of  that  evening's  attack,  and 
has  lived  since  in  her  own  cottage,  which  is  all  that 
remains  to  her  of  past  grandeur.  She  continues  to 
scold  her  nieces  and  nephews  for  having  no  more 
provisions  from  the  chateau  by  their  fault,  and  she 
repeats  constantly  the  tale  of  her  last  tea  with 
Moses  Kouzmitch,  and  of  the  poor  old  fellow's 
death  on  that  same  night.  A  heart-stroke  carried 
off  the  ancient,  snobbish,  but  devoted  old  serf;  who 
could  not  adapt  himself  to  the  idea  of  all  his  world 
becoming  insane!  As  for  the  German  Bolshevik 
leaders  who  had  brought  about  the  ruin,  they  stood 
awhile  looking  on  that  night,  till  toward  morning 
one  of  them  gathered  the  others  in  a  group.  "At 
last,  our  work  is  done  here,"  he  said,  "and  we  had 
better  go;  for  who  can  predict  what  these  dullards 
may  think  of  our  success  to-morrow,  when  they 
finally  come  to?  We  start  on  our  road  at  once, 
then,  and  shall  be  far  away  before  another  day. 
We  can  demand  double  pay  for  the  months  spent 
here,  I  think;  for  our  task  was  truly  one  of  the  most 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  83 

difficult  in  all  this  land  of  idealists  and  fools;  and 
we  have  done  it  well  at  last." 

And  so,  when  they  came  to,  late  next  day,  the 
people  had  lost  their  foreign  leaders;  and  were  at 
great  pains  to  remember  what  had  occurred,  and 
just  why  the  chateau  lay  now  in  ashes.  In  their 
own  group  many  were  ready,  however,  to  take  on 
the  r61e  of  the  men  who  had  just  sneaked  off;  for 
they  felt  now  a  gulf  existed  between  the  ancient 
proprietors  of  the  land  and  themselves;  too  wide  a 
gulf  ever  to  be  bridged  again.  Some  were  troubled 
greatly  at  finding  how  things  stood.  It  was  worse 
for  the  people  than  ever  before,  in  certain  ways, 
since  they  must  live  on  through  the  summer  and  the 
harvest-time,  and  they  were  not  prepared  to  do  so 
without  guidance.  They  had  no  organization,  and 
the  peasants  who  would  gladly  work  for  money 
under  earlier  arrangements,  would  not  work  for  love 
of  labor  now  any  more  land  than  was  actually  of 
use  for  their  own  needs.  Yet  at  hand,  confiscated  by 
the  village,  were  many  of  the  fine  implements  and 
horses  of  the  ex-proprietors,  and  the  earth  was  there 
— though  on  it  no  fields  of  winter  wheat  had  been  pre- 
pared. None  were  even  ploughed,  and  six  precious 
months  were  lost,  with  neither  food,  nor  grain,  nor 
ready  money  to  show.  The  Austrian  prisoners  had 
long  since  fled,  and  our  own  men,  returned  from  the 
war,  refused  to  work  at  all.  Every  one  was  master 
now,  free  to  rest,  and  sleep,  and  drink  whenever  he 
pleased ;  and  every  one  felt  more  inclined  to  govern 
than  be  governed.  Meantime  the  days  passed,  and 


84  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

it  was  late  spring.  Delegates  from  the  city  Bolshe- 
viki  and  from  Kief's  new  Ukrainian  government 
came  through  the  village,  ordering  peremptorily  the 
peasantry  to  give  grain  from  their  slender  stores  to 
feed  the  starving  towns.  The  people  hid  what  they 
could,  and  sold  only  what  they  were  obliged  to,  for 
the  worthless  money;  then  they  worked  in  the 
fields  haphazard,  being  forced  to  it  only  by  a  fear 
of  famine.  The  fine  implements  were  mostly  spoiled 
already,  since  protecting  sheds  and  repairing  shops 
had  been  burned,  and  their  new  owners  had  not 
seen  to  protecting  them  from  the  late  winter  snow, 
or  springtime  thaw  or  rain.  The  men  and  women 
and  their  animals  were  equally  exposed  to  wind  and 
weather,  and  they  went  untreated  now  when  ill. 
Many  were  ailing  or  run  down  physically,  as  they 
were  mentally,  morally,  and  materially.  All  the 
riches  of  the  country  had  been  theirs  in  those  first 
days  of  revolution;  but  sloth  and  dirt  and  drink,  and 
lack  of  knowledge  as  well  as  lack  of  organization, 
were  laying  health  and  fortune  of  a  whole  race  in  the 
dust,  taking  all  savor  from  its  triumph,  all  con- 
fidence and  hope  from  much  discouraged  hearts. 
Vodka,  their  first  enemy,  was  their  false  friend  again 
now,  dragging  our  people  lower  with  each  day,  while 
the  enemy's  agents  were  always  passing  through  the 
village,  ready  and  able  to  lead  the  simple  peasant 
on  to  his  destruction.  Suddenly  one  day  it  was 
learned  the  Germans  were  settled  in  Kief  as  official 
masters,  and  then  it  came  about  that  squads  began 
to  scour  the  country  for  grain  and  other  provisions 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  85 

with  which  to  feed  themselves  first,  and  even  for 
enough  to  send  back  into  Germany.  What  they 
could  the  peasants  still  kept  back  secretly;  the  rest 
was  confiscated. 

Open  resistance  was  impossible,  for  the  victims 
were  both  threatened  and  often  whipped,  and  they 
knew  that  other  villages  round  about  that  had  dared 
fight  the  German  tyranny  had  been  burned,  while 
the  inhabitants  were  butchered  wholesale,  or  even 
gassed !  Tortured  with  such  inconceivable  cruelty, 
necessarily  one  bowed  down  to  the  fresh  despotism, 
hideous  as  it  was.  During  the  months  of  Teuton 
occupation  a  vast  retrograde  movement  was  in- 
augurated in  the  provinces  of  the  Ukraine.  The 
"national"  Hetman,  General  Skoropadsky,  who  was, 
alas,  a  Russian,  joined  Von  Eichhorn's  government, 
and  helped  the  latter  to  carry  out  his  policy,  making 
only  one  condition — that  the  rights  of  the  landed 
proprietors  in  the  Ukraine  should  be  enforced 
against  their  own  peasantry  and  against  the  Bolshe- 
viki.  So  it  turned  out  that  for  the  safety  of  their 
personal  fortunes,  some  few  of  the  nobility  in  Kief, 
through  Skoropadsky's  bargain,  were  tempted  into 
aiding  the  Huns.  These  latter,  who  elsewhere  in 
Russia  were  paying  Bolsheviki  to  destroy  the  upper 
class  and  create  anarchy,  were  in  Kief  and  its  environs 
punishing  the  peasantry  and  helping  the  top  strata. 
Our  enemies'  calculation  was  simple  enough.  From 
the  Ukraine  they  needed  grain  which  the  peasants 
had,  and  as  it  was  a  country  near  their  own  frontier, 
they  also  preferred  to  keep  law  and  order  and  our 


86  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

class  organization  as  it  had  been;  also  they  had 
found  the  Ukrainian  Hetman  with  a  military  force 
ready  to  join  them.  In  the  rest  of  Russia  they  per- 
fectly realized  that  every  one  with  understanding  or 
education  was  against  them;  so  they  had  turned  to 
the  worst  groups  to  carry  out  their  designs,  and  had 
cynically  counted  on  being  always  strong  enough 
to  make  order  later,  when  it  should  suit  their  con- 
venience to  do  so. 

Our  peasants  did  not  follow  out  the  arguments, 
but  they  found  it  natural,  traditionally  logical  and 
just  to  be  beaten  into  semislavery  after  they  had 
taken  by  force  what  did  not  belong  to  them.  This 
had  always  been  their  fate  so  far  in  history.  .  .  . 
So  now,  under  German  tutelage,  they  ploughed  and 
sowed  obediently,  and  harvested  the  grain-crops, 
driven  into  it  by  whip  and  insult.  The  grain  went 
partly  for  the  German  dictators'  benefit  and  partly 
for  that  of  the  old  proprietors.  .  .  .  This  last 
share  was  paid  into  one  or  another  of  the  banks  of 
Kief,  and  the  ex-owners  of  the  land  were  officially 
notified  of  their  credit.  As  to  the  peasantry  who 
had  worked  this  year  as  never  before  since  the 
Dark  Ages,  they  were  given  a  mere  pittance. 
Oppressed  and  miserable,  hopeless  and  inert,  save 
under  the  lash,  besodden  when  free  from  punish- 
ment, the  villages  lost  again  their  fair  coquettish 
beauty.  The  inhabitants'  clothes  were  torn,  their 
boots  and  harness  worn  out  or  requisitioned  (for  the 
victors  needed  all  the  leather  in  the  country),  and 
the  cattle  and  horses  became  as  thin  as  the  people 
themselves.  All  were  fair  prey  to  illnesses.  Old 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  87 

scourges  which  had  been  almost  eradicated  with 
care,  had  reappeared;  tuberculosis  in  various  forms, 
and  many  other  maladies,  claimed  numerous  victims. 
Yet,  at  the  end  of  the  autumn,  the  enemy  had  suc- 
ceeded in  making  our  peasantry  pay  heavy  taxes, 
and  also  levies  in  money  and  grain  had  been  made 
by  their  agents.  Into  the  bank  at  Kief,  by  order  of 
the  new  conquerors,  went  eighty  per  cent  of  the  value 
of  live  stock  and  implements  which  had  been  wan- 
tonly destroyed.  Also  the  peasants  had  officially 
returned  the  lands  to  the  old  proprietors,  and  had 
paid  rent  down,  for  two  years  ahead,  on  such  fields 
as  they  wished  to  keep  for  farming.  This  was  done 
to  prove,  the  peasants  fully  admitted,  that  they  had 
stolen  lands  and' cattle,  and  that  they  had  no  rights 
and  no  longer  any  pretensions  to  these  riches. 
When,  as  in  our  case,  the  proprietor's  family  was 
absent,  due  official  notification  of  what  had  been  done 
by  the  German-Ukrainian  administration  of  Kief  was 
sent  to  them.  We  were  notified,  for  instance,  that 
we  could  obtain  this  money  from  the  bank  at  any 
time  convenient  to  us,  and  that  the  valuation  of  our 
stock  and  implements  for  the  refund  had  been  made 
by  our  own  intendants.  So  it  was  the  Germans 
hoped  to  make  themselves  acceptable  in  the  con- 
quered province,  at  least  to  the  aristocratic  element, 
and,  alas,  in  some  cases  they  were  only  too  successful 
in  this.  In  the  late  summer  Von  Eichhorn  was  assas- 
sinated by  a  young  Russian,  and  within  a  few  weeks 
the  same  fate  supposedly  overtook  Skoropadsky.1 

1  Skoropadsky's  murder  was  officially  annouced,  but  was  later  con- 
tradicted non-officially. 


88  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Both  were  dead,  in  spite  of  the  pomp  and  military 
protection  with  which  in  Kief  they  had  surrounded 
themselves.  Rapidly  the  artificial  organization  dis- 
integrated, till  within  a  few  weeks  chaos  reigned 
everywhere,  worse  than  ever  before  in  the  villages 
and  small  towns. 

It  was  a  reaction  against  the  enforced  German 
discipline  of  the  previous  months,  and  certainly 
in  all  this  misery  our  people  roused  one's  pity 
by  their  helplessness,  though  much  of  the  trouble 
was  of  their  own  creation.  From  being  overdis- 
ciplined  and  undereducated  they  had  been  plunged 
without  preparation  into  a  riot  of  riches  and  vodka, 
backed  by  a  fiery  propaganda.  No  wonder  that  all 
boundaries  were  at  once  broken  down — and  they 
destroyed  themselves  and  us.  After  this  short  orgy 
the  prophetic  vision  of  the  peasant  who  asked 
4 '  When  shall  we  be  beaten  ? "  had  verified  itself  fully, 
with  the  German  armed  dictatorship.  And  now 
that  is  also  past,  and  the  peasants  sleep  away 
their  winter  days,  waiting  what  calamity  will  strike 
them  next,  and  wondering  how  they  can  defend 
themselves. 

Already  the  Bolsheviki  have  begun  an  invasion 
of  the  Ukraine  from  the  north  and  east,  since  in 
their  other  strongholds  food  is  exhausted.  .  .  . 
From  the  southeast,  Cossacks  announce  that  they 
will  overrun  the  country  and  establish  order  accord- 
ing to  their  ideas.  .  .  .  The  peasants  have  a  little 
grain  and  firewood  left,  but  no  clothes  save  rags, 
which  were  once  so  gay,  and  they  are  barely  living, 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  89 

barely  holding  out  as  yet,  with  small  hope  of  help ! 
They  are  fighting  cold  and  vodka,  disease  and  under- 
feeding, lack  of  medicines  and  of  the  doctors  whom 
they  themselves  have  driven  away.  They  are  pay- 
ing the  heavy  contributions  levied  by  each  new 
conqueror  in  turn,  and  mentally  they  are  brutalized 
to  silence,  but  are  frantic  as  driven  beasts  in  their 
fear  of  what  each  day  may  bring.  So  far  the  poor 
mujiks  have  not  given  or  received  the  least  promise 
of  better  things.  It  was  little  news  one  heard 
through  the  winter  months  from  Bouromka,  even  at 
the  best  of  times,  as  our  post  never  came  more  than 
four  days  a  week,  and  was  brought  by  horses  from 
a  railroad-station  fifty  miles  away;  but  we  know  the 
people,  semi-armed,  are  rising  in  our  village  as  in 
those  round  about,  trying  to  resist  the  anarchistic 
tyrants  who  are  now  exploiting  them.  For  the  rest, 
their  ferocity  of  destruction  has  long  since  worn  it- 
self out.  Feeling  crushed,  the  peasants  sought  re- 
venge, first  on  those  whom  the  false  prophets  told 
them  were  to  blame,  then  on  the  latter  themselves, 
when  their  prophecies  proved  wrong,  and  finally  on 
the  tyrants  who  abused  them  in  the  terrible  German 
reaction.  Undoubtedly,  they  had  thought  the  Ger- 
mans and  ex-landowners  were  in  league  to  force  res- 
titution from  them.  While  there  was  certainly  some 
justice  in  their  paying  for  what  they  spoiled  or  stole, 
and  in  their  being  made  to  admit  that  what  they  did 
was  wrong,  at  the  bottom  of  their  minds  I  think 
the  feeling  must  exist  that  they  have  not  altogether 
deserved  the  punishment  given  them,  for  not  they 


90  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

alone  are  responsible  for  the  troubles.  Undoubt- 
edly, they  are  tormented  occasionally  trying  to  find 
a  way  out  of  the  difficulty,  and  I  can  imagine 
Batioushka  and  the  elders  meeting  at  the  priest's 
tiny  cottage  near  the  church,  and  their  discus- 
sions of  the  dismal  past,  and  of  all  the  ground 
that  has  been  lost  to  the  poor  village  which  lies 
spread  out  in  placid  sunlight  at  their  feet.  The 
elders  have  probably  lost  hold  of  the  situation, 
and  one  can  hear  them  sigh  heavily  as  they  utter 
their  complaints.  "Batioushka,  we  have  been 
truly  in  the  dark,  but  it  has  not  been  our  fault. 
Who  could  foretell  and  who  could  sufficiently  pre- 
pare us  for  the  great  feast  of  our  liberty  ?  Of  our 
people  so  few  were  educated,  and  our  patriotism 
was  for  the  'hata'  and  the  township,  and  perhaps 
even  for  this  province;  but  it  went  no  farther,  since 
we  know  nothing  of  the  rest  of  Russia,  save  that  our 
religion  was  for  the  White  Czar.  If  we  had  more 
learning,  we  would  have  made  better  arrangements 
for  the  new  government.  Surely  the  latter  will  still 
come  to  us  when  this  black  night  of  the  terror  is 
finished  ?  It  will  be  a  long  time  till  then,  and  full 
of  pain,  perhaps;  but  at  last  one  might  hope  the 
rich  and  the  poor,  the  great  and  the  small,  would 
join  with  one  another  and  create  a  new  country  on 
the  foundations  of  our  present  disappointments." — 
"In  spite  of  all  the  trouble,  I  am  for  the  revolution," 
answers  Batioushka,  "glad  the  old  regime's  ail- 
ments and  sins  have  been  destroyed,  though  that 
ancient  government  encouraged  us  and  made  us 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  91 

richer  as  a  class  than  we  priests  shall  ever  be  in  the 
future.  But  religion  itself  will  not  suffer,  and  who 
knows  ?  the  old  and  the  new,  the  Orthodox,  Catholic, 
Protestant,  Mohammedan,  and  even  the  Jew,  shall 
perhaps  be  equal  one  to  the  other  before  the  law, 
some  day,  and  the  church  will  preach  joy  and  healthy 
living  instead  of  gloom  and  punishment.  We  must 
plan  a  new  education  for  our  young  priests  to  arrive 
at  this,  and  for  our  doctors  and  all  the  teachers  of 
the  people.  Russia  must  clean  its  house,  and  it  is 
possible  these  tragic  years  are  eradicating  the  bad 
as  well  as  the  good  in  us,  and  teaching  us  much 
which  we  never  would  have  learned  save  by  our 
present  experiences.  The  new  regime  will  be  born 
a  child,  young  and  weak,  and  can  only  slowly  grow 
up;  the  future  is  bound  to  the  past  by  instincts 
and  ideals,  loves  and  hatreds,  which  are  inherited. 
.  .  .  But  some  of  the  traits  of  our  nature,  in  fact 
most  of  them,  were  always  very  beautiful.  .  .  .  We 
shall  be  great  yet,  I  think.  .  .  .  Listen,  you  who 
are  the  elders  here,  and  then  teach  your  children  to 
believe  that  we  are  down  now  to  our  lowest  depths, 
for  we  have  been  in  German  hands.  For  centuries 
we  have  been  ill-used  by  this  same  enemy,  given  only 
their  crumbs  of  civilization,  and  obliged  to  bow 
down  to  them,  and  now  their  agents  have  been  here 
among  us,  imparting  to  us  all  sorts  of  lies,  both  as 
to  our  allies'  wickedness  and  as  to  our  revolution's 
power;  and  all  this  was  told  to  a  people  wearied  and 
worn  by  war.  Why  our  allies  did  not  tell  us  their 
side  of  such  questions,  I  do  not  know,  for  we  were 


92  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

far  away  from  them,  alone  to  fight  all  the  battles  on 
this  side  of  the  firing-lines,  and  we  suffered  and  lost 
much  more  than  they.  .  .  .  More  than  three  mil- 
lion of  our  men  were  killed,  and  two  more  millions 
have  died  of  starvation  or  disease.  When  upon  all 
this  came  the  revolution,  with  the  Germans  ever 
ready  to  teach  us  the  full  meaning  of  it,  we  natu- 
rally fell  prostrate  in  their  hands.  .  .  .  But  see, 
already  there  are  those  preparing  to  rise  again, 
and  fighting  as  their  ancestors  of  the  steppes  did 
in  the  Dark  Ages  against  the  Asiatic  hordes  who 
came  to  oppress  them.  The  enemy's  squads  were 
ill-received  in  summer,  and  now  it  is  even  worse 
for  the  Bolshevik's  representatives  who  come  to 
tyrannize.  Maybe  with  time  and  thought  our 
men  shall  again  turn  their  minds  to  honest  work, 
and  will  grow  up  to  understand  that  liberty  to  do 
and  responsibility  for  what  is  done  must  go  together; 
also,  that  national  funds  must  not  be  squandered, 
since  they  are  nothing  else  than  the  money  we  our- 
selves pay  into  our  state  coffers.  .  .  .  Perhaps, 
also,  it  will  come  to  us  that  the  villages  and  cities 
need  one  another,  as  do  the  rich  and  the  poor  also, 
and  when  this  knowledge  is  accepted,  all  will  be  well. 
It  is  even  near  now,  since  you  are  all  beginning  to 
miss  the  city's  luxuries  and  the  chateau's  care,  and 
the  money  which  your  honest  labor  brought  you; 
and  you  have  found  out  that  all  of  these,  vodka 
and  sleep  alone  cannot  replace."  The  elders  slowly 
nod  assent  and  reply:  "True,  Batioushka,  and  if 
you  believe  this  yourself,  that  all  which  is  so  bad 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  93 

now  can  at  last  be  overcome,  then  we  shall  believe 
also;  and  there  are  others  who  are  tired  of  the  dis- 
order, and  who  will  join  in  trying  to  help.  Perhaps 
there  are  neighbor  villages  which  will  act  likewise  ? 
We  finally  understand  now  that  no  injustice  of 
the  past  can  be  righted  by  stealing.  .  .  .  Though 
certainly  we  have  much  need  of  land.  .  .  .  The 
Princes  should  and  must  give  us  some  of  theirs,  or 
all;  but  let  us  try  to  find  a  way  out  of  this  and  other 
difficulties  quietly."  Batioushka,  full  of  pity  for 
his  flock,  is  ready  to  help  them  in  every  way  he  can 
and  believes  that  the  rapidity  with  which  the  peasant 
(with  his  woman  and  his  child)  blossomed  in  the 
few  years  which  immediately  preceded  the  revolu- 
tion, shows  of  what  progress  the  Russians  are  capa- 
ble if  rightly  led  and  rightly  understood.  One 
was  tempted  to  dream  dreams  then,  and  I  also  am 
still  quite  prepared  to  believe  that  a  race  which 
has  thrown  off,  or  absorbed,  Tartars  and  Poles, 
Norsemen  and  Mongolians,  together  with  refugees 
and  colonists  from  all  over  the  world,  can  still  rise 
up  and  shake  off  German  foe  or  Bolshevik  traitor. 
Certainly  though,  it  is  a  difficult  task  to  rid  a  coun- 
try of  such  a  heavy  load  of  misery  as  the  present 
one  weighing  on  the  Slav  people,  and  then  to  build 
our  national  life  anew !  .  .  . 

How  it  shall  be  done  only  the  future  can  show. 
At  present  the  old  people  and  the  children  are 
dying,  and  the  villages  need  clothes  and  coverings, 
provisions  and  machinery,  and  every  other  sort  of 
material  help  from  the  big  centres,  and  they  cannot 


94  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

obtain  these  since  the  cities  refuse  co-operation. 
So  the  peasantry  holds  back  its  own  small  stocks  of 
hidden  grain,  while  the  townspeople  riot  for  lack  of 
bread,  and  the  whole  seething  mass,  which  once  was 
placid  Russia,  has  this  fight  between  urban  and 
suburban  groups  to  add  to  the  other  troubles  of  the 
frightful  revolution.  Russia  offers  to  the  world  the 
most  dismal  tragedy  which  history  ever  presented ! 
...  In  Bouromka,  always  far  from  the  beaten 
tracks  of  civilization,  the  priest,  though  his  own 
rosy  plans  are  in  the  dust,  still  labors  on  and  prays 
among  his  little  group ;  and  the  brave  few  who  have 
withstood  the  present  time's  temptations  try  to 
think  and  plan  with  him  for  all  the  rest,  and  so  to 
minimize  the  great  harm  done.  They,  like  many 
Russians  everywhere,  still  feel  the  frenzy  of  our 
reign  of  terror  must  end  in  time  for  the  whole  nation 
— Prince,  Bourgeois,  and  Peasant — to  join  hands, 
and  to  rebuild  our  country  on  a  new  foundation. 
They  know  Russia  has  not  yet  had  its  day,  histori- 
cally, and  that  the  disease  from  which  we  suffer  is 
not  degeneracy,  but  one  caused  by  wild  young  forces 
too  long  suppressed,  and  then  unleashed  suddenly 
and  overfed.  With  at  least  one  hundred  and  fifty 
millions  out  of  our  one  hundred  and  eighty  million 
people  still  so  undeveloped  that  they  cannot  sign 
their  names,  it  was  easy  enough  to  lead  them  far 
astray.  Every  one  helped  to  do  it ;  friend  and  ally, 
through  misunderstanding,  no  less  than  our  foe 
through  clever ,  calculation.  ...  Till  now  all  the 
civilization  given  us  was  by  ordering  the  adoption 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  95 

of  certain  superficial  forms,  taken  in  total  from  the 
Orient,  or  again  from  France,  Italy,  or  Germany, 
at  the  command  of  some  enthusiastic  Emperor  or 
statesman.  .  .  .  The  significance  of  these  forms 
was  never  explained  to  the  people,  nor  were  the 
measures  ever  modified  to  suit  the  Slavs'  own  nature. 
Underneath  this  veneer  our  people  remained  with 
their  ancient  ideals  and  primitive  desires,  a  folk  of 
patriarchal  times.  Finally,  when  the  revolution 
came,  the  Slav  giant  stood  up,  and  dropping  his 
artificial  garment,  he  stretched  and  shook  himself 
until  the  whole  earth  trembled!  All  the  world 
stood  aghast  at  the  result  of  its  own  labors,  and  for- 
eigners are  puzzling  their  brains  as  to  what  shall 
be  done  to  quench  the  fire,  stop  the  noise,  and  bring 
these  wild  demons  back  to  law  and  order  again. 
And  while  they  talk,  the  delirium  gains  ground  and 
many  things  are  being  burned.  All  the  world  risks 
perishing,  and  they  who  would  like  to  preserve  in 
a  recognized  form  their  civilization  must  act  soon, 
or  it  will  be  too  late.  .  .  . 

As  history  counts,  the  time  may  not  be  long  till 
our  dramatic  chapter  will  be  finished,  and  until  the 
Slav,  untamed  by  the  outsiders,  may  at  last  tame 
himself,  rise  up  purified  and  strong  to  surprise  the 
world  by  his  own  powers  for  civilization  of  a  new 
type.  Somehow  every  Russian,  whether  of  high 
station  or  low,  with  whom  I  have  talked,  seems  to 
have  a  prophetic  feeling  of  this  coming  development. 
An  old  prophecy  upholds  the  theory,  if  one  is  super- 
stitious. .  .  .  Made  long  before  the  war  by  Count 


96  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Leon  Tolstoy,  of  whom  the  Czar,  in  1910,  had  asked 
one,  it  announced  the  coming  cataclysm,  and  it 
very  much  upset  the  ruler  then !  The  paper  was 
kept  for  years  in  his  Majesty's  secret  archives,  I 
heard.  In  a  trance,  the  old  writer,  then  almost  in 
his  dotage,  saw  all  Europe  in  flames,  and  predicted 
such  a  war  as  the  universe  had  never  known  before. 
After  this  he  said:  "The  end  of  that  great  calamity 
will  mark  a  new  political  era  for  the  world.  There 
will  be  left  no  empires  nor  kingdoms,  but  there  will  be 
born  a  federation  of  United  States;  and  there  will  exist 
four  great  giant  races :  the  Anglo-Saxons,  the  Latins, 
the  Slavs,  and  the  Mongolians;  and  I  see  a  change 
in  religious  sentiment,  and  the  church  as  known 
now  will  fall.  The  ethical  idea  will  nearly  vanish, 
and  humanity  will  be  almost  without  morality; 
and  then  a  great  reformer  will  arise  about  the  year 
1925.  He  will  lay  the  corner-stone  of  a  new  religion ; 
God,  soul,  and  spirit,  with  immortality,  all  will  be 
molten  in  the  new  furnace,  to  form  a  new  power  of 
spirituality;  and  I  see  the  peaceful  dawn  of  a  new 
day  at  last.  .  .  .  And  the  man  determined  on  for 
this  mission  is  a  Mongolian-Slav  already  walking 
the  earth.  He  will  be  a  man  of  active  affairs,  and 
does  not  realize  now  the  position  in  history  assigned 
to  him  by  his  superior  powers." — Some  Slav  to  lead 
the  world,  and  from  the  north  or  east  he  is  to  come  ? 
Only  on  the  great  silent  steppe-lands  and  in  the 
forests  of  Russia  are  there  any  Slavs  with  a  strain 
of  Mongolian  blood.  Even  at  this  hour  of  supreme 
agony  there  are  many  of  my  compatriots,  earnest 


REVOLUTION  IN  THE  VILLAGE  97 

in  their  spirit  of  devotion  and  self-sacrifice,  who, 
with  the  instinctive  patience  of  their  blood,  wait  for 
an  occasion  when  action  will  be  possible,  trying  to 
find  help  and  save  their  race,  never  losing  courage, 
never  losing  faith  in  the  cause  of  a  new  Russia. 


Ill 

"THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR" 

THE  first  time  we  heard  of  Bolshevism  by 
name  was  at  the  beginning  of  May — or  to 
be  exact,  April  20,  old  style — 1917,  when 
an  uprising  of  this  ultraradical  group  in  Petrograd 
threatened  to  overthrow  the  first  provisional  gov- 
ernment and  to  establish  anarchy  in  the  Russian 
capital.  The  Bolsheviki  paraded  the  streets  at 
that  time  with  black  banners  on  which  threaten- 
ing mottoes  were  printed  large,  for  all  to  read; 
and  there  was  much  shouting  and  street-fighting 
with  salvo-firing.  It  was  after  several  days  that 
the  atmosphere  again  became  quiet  and  normal; 
and  then  the  peace  was  obtained  only  by  the  sacri- 
fice of  Miliukoff 's  position  in  the  Cabinet  and  the 
acceptance  by  Kerensky  of  the  soldiers  and  work- 
men's committee  as  part  of  the  machinery  of  gov- 
ernment. 

Such  was  the  official  birth  of  the  "Bolshevik"  or 

"Maximalist"  party,  whose  name  came  from  the 

word     "bolshoi" — big — because     this     group     de- 

'  'manded  the  biggest  or  maximum   of  concessions 

from  the  revolutionary  administration's  weakness. 

Since  its  first  appearance  Lenine  was  the  de- 
clared organizer  and  chief  of  the  party.  He  had 

98 


"THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR"  99 

come  from  Switzerland,  direct  through  Germany, 
at  the  opening  of  the  revolution,  and  had  established 
his  headquarters  for  propaganda  in  the  charming 
little  palace  requisitioned  by  his  staff  from  the 
frightened  ballerine  Kshesinskaia, 

An  irony  of  chance  placed  this  cradle  of  the  new 
doctrine  exactly  opposite  the  ancient  fortress  of 
Peter  and  Paul,  where  in  a  secluded  cathedral  lie 
the  bodies  of  all  the  Romanoff  Emperors,  from  the 
great  Peter,  builder  of  the  church,  down  to  Alex- 
ander III.  I  fancy  these  autocrats  must  have 
turned  in  their  graves  at  the  idea  of  their  neighbors' 
theories  and  actions. 

The  germ  of  Bolshevism,  like  much  else  which  has 
hurt  the  world  of  late,  came  straight  from  Germany 
to  us;  and  by  the  following  facts  this  seems  abso- 
lutely proved.  When  in  July  Lenine's  headquarters 
were  raided,  German  gold  was  found  there  in  large 
sums;  also  during  various  uprisings  of  anarchistic 
tendency  German  gold  was  found  both  in  the 
hands  and  pockets  of  those  who  were  creating  these 
disorders.  In  numerous  places  where  specially 
violent  demonstrations  took  place,  German  official 
spies  were  recognized  and  caught,  disguised  as 
Russians;  and  all  the  organization  of  the  Bolsheviki 
has  been  so  thorough  and  their  movements  so  care- 
fully carried  out  as  to  preclude  these  being  the  re- 
sult of  an  effort  of  our  benighted,  uneducated,  and 
inexperienced  Russians  of  the  extreme  lower  class. 
They  might  perhaps  have  been  capable  of  some  one 
crime,  but  were  much  too  helpless  to  conceive  and 


100  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

execute  a  long,  complicated,  and  systematic  pro- 
gramme such  as  this  party  has  carried  out  during 
the  past  two  years. 

Petrograd  was  not  alone  in  possessing  German 
agents  for  this  special  work.  All  over  the  country 
such  groups  were  at  work.  At  Kief  my  husband 
was  fighting  them,  and  himself  had  in  hand  Aus- 
trian and  German  papers  and  gold,  while  he  ar- 
rested several  of  the  enemy's  spies,  who  in  the 
Ukraine  posed  as  local  nationalists.  At  the  great 
staff  headquarters  of  Moghileff,  when  came  the  last 
mutiny  before  the  provisional  government's  final 
breaking  up,  the  commander-in-chief ,  General  Douk- 
honine,  was  killed  by  an  Austrian  officer  disguised 
in  Russian-sailor  uniform,  whom  the  general  recog- 
nized and  called  by  name  before  he  fell.  In  many 
a  village  such  as  our  own  Bouromka,  months  after 
the  March  revolution — when  we  were  still  living 
quietly  and  on  good  terms  with  our  village  peasant 
committee — a  new  group  of  five  or  six  men  appeared 
from  outside,  bred  discontent  and  trouble,  bribed 
the  people  with  gold — and  not  Russian  gold — ex- 
cited them  with  speeches,  and  finally  fed  and 
inflamed  their  brains  with  vodka  till  they  could 
successfully  lead  the  crowd  to  excesses  which  were 
quite  beyond  belief.  Then  the  foreign  committee 
members  diplomatically  disappeared,  leaving  our 
peasants  to  face  consequences  very  hard  for  them 
to  bear. 

An  instance  of  the  unnecessary  destruction  which 
was  the  work  of  such  agents  is  that  of  Bouromka. 


"THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR"  101 

.  .  .  When  our  main  village  was  abandoned  by  the 
group  of  outsiders,  one  of  the  richest  estates  in 
Little-Russia — consisting  of  thirty  thousand  or  more 
acres  of  intensely  cultivated  farm  land,  in  the 
black-earth  section,  with  meadows  and  woods, 
herds  of  oxen,  studs  of  both  work-horses  and  thor- 
oughbreds, dairy-farm  and  forges,  shops,  buildings, 
a  mill  and  a  distillery,  not  to  mention  the  value  of 
the  chateau  and  park,  with  the  rare  furniture,  plants, 
hothouses,  and  collections — had  been  by  degrees 
completely  destroyed,  together  with  all  the  farming 
implements  and  machinery.  This  result  was  accom- 
plished during  a  few  weeks,  while  the  outside  com- 
mittee men  resided  at  Bouromka. 

After  they  had  finally  gone,  the  frantic,  desperate 
peasants  came  to  their  senses  sufficiently  to  realize 
not  only  that  they  had  inflicted  great  wrong  on  us, 
but  also  that  they  had  harmed  themselves,  by  making 
it  impossible  to  cultivate  this  land  they  had  an- 
nexed in  total  by  the  committee's  advice,  since  the 
wherewithal  to  work  the  place  had  been  ruined 
quite  beyond  repair.  Later  the  peasantry's  * '  elders ' ' 
helped  our  own  intendants  to  make  out  the  lists  and 
estimates  of  our  losses,  and  the  latter  reached  the 
sum  of  eight  millions  of  roubles,  of  which  one  and 
a  half  millions'  worth — in  live  stock  and  implements 
largely — were  found  and  returned,  or  paid  for,  by 
some  of  the  less  headless  peasants.  The  rest  was 
clear  loss. 

And  Bouromka  estate  is  but  one  of  many  hun- 
dreds which  in  Russia  have  suffered  from  condi- 


102  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

tions  created  and  kept  going  by  German  organiza- 
tion !  It  suited  the  enemy's  policy  perfectly,  almost 
to  abolish  us  and  our  peasantry  together,  and  then 
to  step  into  the  richest  part  of  Russia  and  re-establish 
law  and  order.  Thus  they  tried  to  put  the  nobility 
under  obligations,  and  to  crush  and  exploit  the 
humbler  classes,  drawing  on  them  for  both  grain 
and  men  to  replenish  their  own  fatherland's  losses 
in  food  and  labor. 

This  system  has  succeeded  in  many  parts  of 
Russia,  where  German  overlords,  in  command  of 
everything,  are  still  using  our  resources  either  quite 
openly  by  requisition,  or  through  their  secret  agents, 
the  Bolshevik  red  guardsmen,  or  even  by  the  cun- 
ning of  politicians  exploiting  us. 

When  a  province  or  a  city  is  crushed  and  trampled 
to  complete  exhaustion,  the  conqueror's  agents  at 
once  retire  and  leave  the  place  to  recover  itself  as 
best  it  can,  or  to  die  out  entirely. 

Long  before  the  opening  of  the  Great  War,  there 
were  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Germans  in  Russia, 
as  elsewhere.  Some  few  had  intermarried  with 
Russians,  and  their  children,  born  and  brought  up 
in  our  country,  belonged  to  the  Orthodox  Church 
and  were  good  subjects  of  the  Czar;  but  the  vast 
majority — merchants,  professionals,  colonists — had 
remained  loyal  to  their  ancient  fatherland;  spoke 
German,  lived  as  they  had  in  the  old  country,  and 
became  very  prosperous  at  the  expense  of  their  sur- 
roundings. Technically  they  took  out  naturaliza- 
tion papers  in  our  empire,  and  they  were,  of  course, 


"THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR"  103 

allowed  to  move  about,  making  observations  freely. 
They  were  of  the  greatest  service  to  the  enemy,  both 
before  and  all  through  the  war. 

Afterward,  at  the  revolution,  they  also  did  every- 
thing to  further  the  plans  of  their  head  men  in 
Berlin.  They  were  those  who  largely  prepared  the 
ground  for  the  revolution,  and  who  both  in  the 
laboring  classes  and  in  our  army  made  much  propa- 
ganda. Before  the  first  movement  of  the  revolu- 
tion (in  early  March,  1917),  these  agents  in  the  bar- 
racks of  Petrograd  sowed  disloyalty  and  indiscipline 
among  recruits  and  reserves  who  made  up  the  gar- 
rison of  our  capital.  When  the  crash  came,  dur- 
ing the  first  wild  days  it  was  found  by  officers  at- 
tached to  the  Duma's  committee  that  the  Catherine- 
Hall  delegates  of  the  workmen  and  soldiers  had 
produced  spontaneously  and  without  thought  (in 
the  terrible  period  of  general  amazement  and  panic 
at  the  turn  of  events)  both  the  famous  "  Order 
Number  One  to  the  Army,"  introducing  committees 
into  all  military  units,  and  thereby  destroying  dis- 
cipline completely  on  the  firing-line,  and  also  the 
proclamation  to  the  garrison  of  Petrograd  which 
permitted  its  members  to  remain  permanently  sta- 
tionary within  the  city,  without  ever  being  sent 
forward  to  the  front. 

These  two  measures  were  brought  to  the  provi- 
sional cabinet  for  signing,  almost  in  the  first  hour 
of  the  revolution;  and  our  ministers,  either  troubled 
by  the  many  dangers  they  and  the  whole  country 
must  face,  and  therefore  anxious  to  placate  so  power- 


104  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

ful  a  group  as  were  the  workmen  and  soldiers  of  the 
empire,  or  else  merely  dazed  with  surprise,  affixed 
their  names  without  serious  resistance.  Where 
these  two  papers  came  from,  and  how  that  seething 
mass  of  half-crazy  humanity  in  the  Catherine-Hall 
could  produce  two  such  clear,  logical  orders  at  such 
a  time,  was  an  inexplicable  mystery,  except  per- 
haps by  inference;  since  both  these  papers  were 
immensely  useful  to  the  German  enemy's  cause. 

As  a  positive  fact  I  know  that  one  officer — a  per- 
sonal friend  of  ours  who  chanced  to  be  in  the  capital 
on  sick-leave  from  the  front,  and  who  had  rushed 
with  others  to  the  parliament  to  offer  his  services 
in  the  cause  of  law  and  order — reported  to  his  chief 
at  once,  and  later  testified  to  the  fact  that  the  only 
typographical  plants  working  in  the  town  during 
those  early  revolutionary  days  were  run  by  German 
workmen,  who  had  taken  possession  of  them  under 
German-speaking  master  printers.  He,  our  friend, 
was  unable  to  obtain  sufficient  service  to  type 
papers,  which  Rodzanko  had  wished  printed  quickly 
for  immediate  distribution,  because  they  were  so 
busy  preparing  the  Number  One  Order.  Captain 

K heard  and  saw  all  this  himself.     He  said  that 

as  fast  as  the  thousands  of  sheets  were  ready,  they 
were  taken  off  directly  by  special  messengers,  to 
be  delivered  to  our  soldiers  at  the  front,  without 
the  knowledge  of  officers.  These  messengers  were 
Germans  also,  or  men  in  German  pay.  This  whole 
move  was  attended  with  rapid  and  extraordinary 
efficiency,  at  a  time  when  Russians  of  the  working 


"THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR"  105 

class  had  gone  mad  with  excitement  over  their  new 
liberty,  and  could  not  have  been  brought  to  labor 
at  anything,  least  of  all  to  go  off  to  deliver  papers 
along  the  firing-line  leaving  the  amusements  of  the 
Petrograd  streets. 

Police  were  suppressed  at  the  frontiers  as  else- 
where during  the  first  week  of  the  revolution,  and 
for  six  days  barriers  being  down,  thousands  of 
German  agents  poured  into  our  country,  spread- 
ing out  to  points  where  duty  had  been  assigned  to 
them — spying  and  reporting,  organizing  propaganda, 
uprisings,  and  committees.  Within  the  month, 
though  things  looked  quiet  on  the  surface,  one  often 
felt  the  fermentation  underneath,  and  the  Cabinet 
members  sat  insecurely  in  their  places  governing  a 
very  fluid  state. 

The  revolutionary  preparation  by  Germany  was 
never  sufficiently  noticed  nor  pursued  then,  and  the 
work  of  the  enemy  with  the  Catherine-Hall  party 
and  as  printers  and  messengers  speaks  in  its  results. 
Afterward,  with  the  arrival  of  new  reserves  from 
Germany,  the  work  was  at  once  begun  of  forming 
an  official  group.  L6nine  was  its  head,  the  Kshe- 
sinskaia  house  its  quarters,  and  while  the  leader  and 
his  satellites  preached  their  red  doctrines  to  Petro- 
grad's  public  as  the  gospel  of  the  lowly  people,  their 
unofficial  agents  circulated  about  over  the  whole 
country,  breaking  ground,  as  it  were,  bringing  in 
new  recruits  for  initiation  and  creating  discontent; 
thus  they  drew  together  the  committees,  both  of 
soldiers  and  of  workmen,  with  the  Leninites.  Say- 


106  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

ing  a  sympathetic  word  at  the  right  moment,  they 
were  distributing  everywhere  leaflets  of  Karl  Marx, 
translated  and  changed  to  fit  the  ambitions  of  the 
Russian  poor,  and  they  succeeded  in  inspiring  pre- 
tensions which  had  never  before  occurred  to  their 
converts. 

By  July,  1917,  the  Bolshevik  party  had  gathered 
to  itself  all  the  discontented  elements  in  the  great 
cities  and  all  the  army's  rebellious  spirits,  and  there 
was  strength  behind  it  enough  to  frighten  Kerensky 
and  force  him  to  give  way.  "Land  and  Liberty " 
was  this  group's  early  cry,  which  meant  little  or 
much,  according  to  its  interpretation  by  conserva- 
tives or  anarchists. 

Count  P ,  who  about  this  time  was  obliged  to 

give  up  a  large  Red  Cross  unit  at  the  front  which, 
through  three  years  of  war,  had  done  wonders  to  help 
our  wounded  soldiers,  told  me  his  reasons  for  aban- 
doning this  work.  He  said:  "I  tried  to  argue  out 
the  situation  with  my  men,  both  those  who  formed 
my  unit  as  well  as  those  whom  we  were  having 
treated.  The  new  liberty  to  them  had  been  made  to 
represent  that  the  stretcher-bearers  and  the  hospital's 
floor-scrubbers  ought  to  run  our  whole  administra- 
tion, while  the  patients  were  to  obey  or  not  our 
doctor's  orders,  as  they  saw  fit.  Several  of  the 
patients  had  died  from  eating  what  was  forbidden 
them,  in  absolute  defiance  of  directions  given,  and 
then  the  other  wounded  had  proclaimed  noisily  all 
this  was  the  doctor's  fault,  as  his  medicines  were  bad. 

"Once  I  went  into  the  hospital  garden  and  began 


"THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR"  107 

to  talk  with  a  sanitary  who  was  resting  there  in  his 
off  hour.  I  still  hoped  good  might  come  of  an  ex- 
planation, if  I  made  it  simple  enough,  so  I  told  him : 
'See,  Ivan,  if  I  sit  on  this  bench  and  you  come  and 
sit  by  me  instead  of  standing  there — that  to  my 
mind  is  the  new  liberty  they  speak  of,  where  neither 
you  nor  I  inconvenience  one  another,  and  both  are 
comfortable  equally;  but  if  you  were  to  tell  me  that 
I  must  get  up  and  you  would  like  to  sit  on  this  same 
place  where  I  am  now  as  well  as  on  your  own — that 
would  scarcely  be  fair,  since  you  would  be  taking 
away  my  seat,  when  you  cannot  possibly  sit  in  two 
of  them  at  once/ 

"'Yes,  Excellency,'  answered  Ivan,  'I  have  always 
thought  this  too,  till  now,  and  felt  content;  but  the 
new  people  say  that  idea  belongs  to  old  times,  and 
the  new  liberty  is  for  me  to  keep  my  place  and  all  I 
have,  and  add  to  it  what  is  yours  also;  and  certainly 
we  find  that  will  be  an  agreeable  arrangement,  since 
there  are  many  things  which  belong  to  others  and 
which  we  want.' 

"So  Ivan  and  I,  having  worked  together  over  our 
wounded  for  three  long  years,  were  now  separated 
completely  by  the  new  theories  which  had  been 
poured  into  his  brain,  and  there  was  nothing  more 
for  me  to  do  but  to  pack  up  my  things  and  leave 
our  unit  to  the  care  of  new  masters.  Soon  the  ser- 
vice would  not  obey  their  own  elected  soldier  chiefs, 
and  as  funds  gave  out  the  whole  hospital  first  ran 
wild  and  then  fell  to  pieces;  yet  the  men  forming 
it  had  been  devoted  and  loyal,  and  full  of  fervor 


108  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

and  energy  to  help  their  struggling  suffering  brothers 
at  the  front  before  the  poison  reached  them. 

"It  seemed  as  if  those  who  had  led  them  astray 
by  such  impossible  doctrines  ought  to  be  punished. 
The  best  men  became  violent  Bolsheviki,  bent  on 
their  own  destruction  and  on  ours;  and  whatever 
comes  to  them,  they  never  will  be  satisfied,  since 
their  elusive  ideal  will  always  be  some  steps  beyond 
attainment." 

At  least  a  dozen  men  and  women  whom  I  knew 
had  about  the  same  experience  with  their  Red 
Cross  workers,  and  these  groups  disintegrated,  as 
did  the  army  and  every  other  organization  in  Rus- 
sia; while  little  by  little  during  the  same  period  the 
Bolsheviki  gained  power  steadily. 

Leon  Trotzky — alias  Braunstein — arrived  in  July, 
and  added  his  strength  to  the  movement.  He  came 
from  the  East  Side  of  New  York  City,  where  he  had 
till  then  been  doing  useful  work  among  Americans 
for  his  German  masters  and  their  cause.  He  ad- 
mitted being  an  anarchist,  and  also  that  his  original 
name  had  been  Leo  Braunstein  until  he  moved  to 
our  unfortunate  land,  when  he  had  taken  a  Russian 
name.  He  probably  outshone  Lenine  in  magnetism 
and  eloquence,  and  was  better  trained  in  German 
methods  and  more  experienced.  Certainly  whether 
from  that,  or  because  his  original  home  country 
backed  him  more  suitably,  he  seems  to  have  injected 
much  greater  energy  into  the  agitations  which  he 
led  and  to  have  organized  them  better.  He  was 
infinitely  violent  and  tyrannical  as  compared  to 


"THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR"  109 

other  leaders.  He  promised  more,  and  has  shown 
himself  unashamed  of  using  any  instrument  which 
offered  itself  to  his  hand;  and  he  had  already  by 
early  November,  1917,  gathered  enough  power  to 
overthrow  the  tottering  provisional  government, 
lock  up  its  ministers — save  only  Kerensky,  who  ran 
away! — while  he,  Trotzky,  personally  assumed  all 
power  as  tyrant  and  autocrat. 

This  new  Robespierre  inaugurated  at  once  a  reign 
of  terror,  or  tried  to  do  so,  for  even  with  the  seizure 
once  accomplished  most  of  his  Russian  followers 
still  hung  back,  and  with  innate  idealism  expected 
the  millennium  immediately  to  fulfil  all  promises 
made,  without  undue  effort  or  ferocity  on  their  own 
parts. 

Of  course  nothing  came  of  this  hope,  since  it  had 
never  been  in  the  plans  of  the  originators  that  their 
followers  should  reap  any  good  from  their  projects. 
The  riches  of  the  country  they  meant  to  draw  for 
themselves  out  of  the  tempest  they  were  stirring  up; 
and  only  complete  slavery  was  to  be  the  part  of  the 
mujik,  whether  he  hailed  from  town  or  village. 
But  he,  the  victim,  must  be  kept,  of  course,  igno- 
rant of  such  plans  till  he  should  be  prostrate  beyond 
recovery;  and  to  gain  that  end  it  was  necessary  to 
tempt  him  onward,  over  the  road  he  seemed  almost 
loath  to  follow.  Also,  the  various  classes  in  Russia 
must  all  be  put  irretrievably  one  against  the  other, 
and  misunderstandings,  when  they  did  not  exist, 
must  be  created  which  would  carry  the  groups  be- 
yond possibility  of  reconciliation. 


110  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Zealously  the  agents  set  about  this  special  work. 
Step  by  step  they  carried  out  a  fixed  programme. 
Our  people  of  the  lower  strata,  who  were  so  ignorant 
they  could  neither  read  nor  write,  naturally  wanted 
all  those  things  which  were  dangled  before  their 
blinking  eyes,  so  immediately  they  fell  an  easy 
prey  to  Bolshevik  machinations.  They,  who  had 
gone  through  the  terrific  years  of  war,  who  were 
very  needy — in  the  north,  especially — of  both  fuel 
and  food,  believed  at  once  any  false  prophets,  who 
appeared  from  they  knew  not  where,  and  offered 
them  shining  gold  and  provisions,  and  above  all 
vodka,  of  which  they  had  not  tasted  for  three  long 
years.  And  then,  beyond  all  this,  the  newcomers 
promised  there  should  be  a  paradise  on  earth — no 
more  work  and  no  more  fighting !  All  the  riches  of 
the  world  should  be  had  for  the  mere  taking;  and  it 
was  not  stealing  and  murder  they  were  asked  to 
practise,  it  was  explained,  for  everything  in  the  new 
government  was  to  be  " nationalized,"  and  belonged 
to  the  humble  masses,  who  were  both  great  and 
good  and  long-suffering ! 

They  were  told  all  that  was  given  to  them  thus 
by  proclamations  was  already  legally  their  property, 
and  they  had  only  two  duties  to  perform :  to  carry 
out  the  law  by  appropriating  what  was  at  hand 
and  to  "defend  the  revolution" — which  meant 
fighting  counter-revolutionary  plots  and  parties. 
This  seemed  easy  enough ;  it  only  required  occasional 
arrests,  requisitions,  and  now  and  then  the  shooting 
of  a  suspected  bourgeois,  with  raiding  of  houses, 


"THE  REIGN  OP  TERROR"  111 

shops,  and  cellars,  both  public  and  private.  All 
this  was  delightful  through  the  excitement  and  booty 
it  furnished ! 

By  degrees,  as  heads  became  heated,  the  whole  of 
the  poorer  elements  became  one  drunken  horde. 
Even  the  German  directors  could  no  longer  manage 
the  mobs  except  by  giving  them  what  they  asked 
for  and  by  promising  more  and  always  more.  Each 
day  brought  new  necessities,  and  to  keep  their  places 
the  demagogues  must  be  forever  ready  to  humor 
the  wildest  caprices  and  to  invent  new  license  and 
new  orgies,  so  thought  would  be  stifled  on  the  part 
of  those  whom  they  wished  to  hold  well  in  hand. 

This  became  especially  difficult,  because  so  many 
of  the  prophecies  did  not  come  true;  or  when  they 
did  they  proved  unsatisfactory.  Men  who  were  led 
to  burn  chateaux  and  farms,  stock  and  implements, 
and  to  whom  the  land  was  given,  were  not  content 
finally;  because  after  they  had  the  land  they  could 
not  labor  at  so  much  of  it  merely  with  their  hands; 
and  all  the  tools  and  organization  for  bringing  forth 
its  fruits  had  been  done  for  by  the  heirs  to  it  them- 
selves. How  were  they  to  draw  money  from  the 
bare  earth  alone,  be  it  ever  so  rich  ?  They  couldn't 
suffice  at  the  work  and,  besides,  they  didn't  really 
want  to  do  it,  since  part  of  the  new  paradise  prom- 
ised had  been  that  no  one  need  labor  unless  he  chose. 

In  the  factories  it  was  the  same;  there  were  at 
first  wonderful  days  and  nights,  when  the  men  had 
stood  up  to  the  owners,  had  talked  of  their  new 
rights,  and  taken  their  freedom  when  and  howjthey 


112  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

pleased,  meaning  naturally  a  complete  holiday  at 
full  wages.  The  managers  had  protested,  then  for 
a  time  had  paid,  and  had  finally  gone  bankrupt  and 
closed  their  shops,  or  simply  left  them  to  the  man- 
agement of  the  strikers.  Some  owners  had  fled  and 
saved  their  lives,  others  had  stayed  and  been  mur- 
dered, while  the  buildings  and  machinery  generally 
had  gone  up  in  flames.  The  factory-hands  who 
wanted  to  stand  by  their  employers  were  either 
driven  off  or,  when  they  proclaimed  too  loudly  that 
the  conduct  of  their  comrades  was  outrageous,  they 
were  put  to  death  as  renegades  to  their  own  class. 
After  all  this  was  accomplished  and  there  was 
time  to  realize  what  had  been  done,  naturally  no 
pay  was  forthcoming,  and  from  cold  lodgings  the 
workmen  sallied  out  into  the  streets,  ready  for  any 
adventure  which  might  be  suggested.  Riots  and 
noise,  drinking,  stealing  and  knifing,  the  inspiration 
was  ever  present  in  the  thought  of  all  that  was  to 
be,  but  had  not  yet  come  true,  and  in  the  gnawing 
hunger  at  their  vitals. 

Of  such  men  the  "Red  Guard'*  was  formed,  and  a 
more  dangerous  crowd  could  scarcely  be.  Trotzky 
saw  to  it  they  should  be  kept  amused  and  satisfied, 
and  he  paid  these  men  first,  and  well,  with  the 
money  which  came  regularly  from  the  Berlin  banks 
when  he  could  find  none  nearer  home.  Disorderly, 
undisciplined,  rackety,  untrustworthy,  no  reliance 
could  be  placed  on  them  for  any  regular  service, 
not  even  to  back  up  the  government's  orders,  or  for 
maintaining  any  land  of  organized  life. 


"THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR"  113 

Lawlessness  was  the  special  occupation  of  every 
Bolshevik,  who  applied  his  party's  doctrines  to  him- 
self and  to  the  acquisition  of  his  own  personal  de- 
sire of  the  moment.  Any  one  who  disagreed  with 
the  new  scheme  must  either  flee  the  country  or  give 
way,  unless  he  cared  to  be  shot  if  noticed.  Remain- 
ing alive  meant  making  oneself  as  small  as  possible 
on  all  occasions  or  paying  with  one's  life  for  attract- 
ing undue  attention. 

As  an  indication  of  what  the  Bolsheviki  were 
capable  of  in  breaking  all  rules  of  hospitality  and 
showing  treachery  even  toward  foreigners  who  were 
in  their  hands,  I  need  cite  but  one  instance:  the 
experiences  of  the  diplomatic  missions,  which  de- 
parted from  Petrograd  at  the  moment  when,  after 
the  peace  treaty  of  Brest-Litovsk,  German  con- 
querors were  to  occupy  our  capital.  The  actions  of 
the  Trotzky-Lenine  government  were  then  quite  on 
the  Hun  pattern.  .  .  .  The  Japanese  and  Chinese 
missions  accompanied  the  American  Ambassador's 
as  far  as  Vologda,  half  across  European  Russia  on  the 
Trans-Siberian  Railroad,  while  the  British,  French, 
Italian,  and  Serbian  missions  refused  to  take  this 
route — quite  round  the  world — to  reach  their  homes; 
and  they  started,  with  the  Bolshevik  government's 
permission,  for  the  Swedish  frontier,  by  way  of  Fin- 
land, a  trip  which  should  have  lasted  about  thirty 
hours.  They  were  harassed  and  held  up  on  the 
road,  in  their  special  trains,  for  between  six  and 
seven  weeks,  the  British  being  the  only  mission 
which  finally  succeeded  in  getting  to  the  frontier  at 


114  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

all !  The  others  were  turned  back  after  this  long 
trial  of  their  patience,  and  were  forced  to  go  to 
Vologda,  where  they  remained  with  the  Americans 
until  July,  1918 ! 

During  four  or  five  months  constant  discussion 
continued  between  the  little  group  of  stranded 
diplomats  at  Vologda  and  the  Bolshevik  government 
at  Moscow.  The  latter  had  offered  Petrograd  to 
the  German  masters,  and  had  retired  themselves 
to  the  more  southern  capital,  accompanied  by  Hun 
Ambassadors,  who  were  really  dictators.  Now  they 
invited — and  kept  insisting  on  acceptance — the 
members  of  the  foreign  missions  to  join  them  at 
their  new  headquarters.  At  first  they  tried  to 
tempt  these  by  offering  villas  to  the  missions  if  they 
would  but  come  to  Moscow,  thus  recognizing  the 
red  government. 

This  invitation  was  steadily  refused,  because  the 
Allies  felt  themselves  already  as  near  to  the  Soviet's 
people  as  they  cared  to  be,  and  because  if  they  went 
farther  south  they  felt  at  any  moment — when  the 
occasion  rose  which  might  make  such  action  advan- 
tageous— they  might  be  seized  and  held  as  hostages. 
Evidently  the  object  of  Trotzky's  government  was 
to  play  off  the  Allies  against  the  Germans,  who  were 
accredited  to  the  Kremlin.  The  confidence  the 
Teuton  Powers  felt  in  Trotzky's  word  can  be  judged 
by  the  fact  that  Austria  and  Germany  each  insisted 
on  sending  to  Moscow  two  or  three  regiments  of 
their  own  troops  to  defend  their  embassies.  .  .  . 
In  spite  of  which  Count  Mirbach  was  murdered 
within  six  months ! 


"THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR"  115 

Radek,  a  member  of  the  Bolshevik  Soviet,  had 
come  with  the  invitation  to  the  diplomatic  corps 
all  the  way  to  Vologda,  and  after  he  returned  to 
Moscow  with  their  refusal  the  stranded  party  re- 
ceived an  alarming  telegram  in  the  night  of  July  23, 
from  the  Muscovite  capital,  saying  it  was  unsafe 
for  diplomats  to  remain  at  Vologda,  and  that  an- 
other day  might  mean  escape  would  no  longer  be 
possible !  Thereupon  Mr.  Francis  and  his  com- 
panions decided  to  use  immediately  the  special  train 
which  they  had  kept  ready  on  the  track  for  five 
months  past  and  to  beat  a  hasty  retreat  to  Arch- 
angel. They  consequently  asked  for  a  locomotive, 
which  it  had  been  arranged  they  were  to  obtain 
from  the  station-master  on  demand;  but  the  Soviet 
government  heard  of  this  action  and  made  inquiries 
as  to  the  proposed  departure  and  the  destination  of 
the  train.  The  information  demanded  was  sent  by 
the  Vologda  officials,  whereupon  Tchitcherin,  Minis- 
ter of  Foreign  Affairs  at  Moscow,  sent  word  to  the 
American  Ambassador:  " Archangel  is  an  unfit  place 
for  diplomats  to  live,  and  going  there  means  leaving 
Russia  definitely.*' 

The  little  group  left,  all  the  same,  for  the  northern 
port.  They  reached  it  only  to  find  the  Soviet  rep- 
resentatives warned  of  their  coming  and  waiting 
there  with  orders  from  Moscow,  which  renewed  com- 
plications for  some  time  longer.  During  this  period 
the  diplomats  lived  through  many  dangerous  hours, 
and  were  treated  in  turn  as  both  hostages  and  pris- 
oners. At  times,  however,  they  themselves  were  in 
command,  especially  after  an  Allied  fleet  landed  a 


116  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

goodly  number  of  marines.  They  even  made  a 
forced  trip  to  Kandalaksha  and  returned  in  time  to 
assist  at  the  overthrow  of  the  Bolsheviki,  after 
which  they  attended  to  much  of  the  settling  of 
the  Archangel  government's  policy,  upholding  the 
new  and  struggling  provisional  officials  who  lately 
had  been  established  there. 

It  shows  the  influence  of  the  Germans,  if  not  their 
absolute  control  of  Trotzky,  that  they  twice  de- 
manded the  American  Ambassador  be  banished 
from  Archangel,  in  support  of  which  demand  they 
made  various  accusations.  Trotzky,  cringing  to  his 
masters,  gave  the  necessary  orders,  but  these  were 
not  carried  out,  because  the  Bolsheviki  were  no 
longer  in  charge  at  Archangel  when  these  papers 
came,  and  the  American  Ambassador  remained  in 
possession  of  the  field  until  November,  1918.  Then 
he  left  Russian  shores  by  his  own  decision  and 
because  of  impaired  health. 

One  might  feel  surprise  no  opposition  was  at- 
tempted in  the  great  centres  where  Bolshevism 
flourished,  but  when  one  remembers  how  this  party 
came  into  existence  it  seems  natural  enough  noth- 
ing could  be  organized  against  it.  The  enlightened 
members  of  society  were  not  only  in  the  minority, 
but  the  many  requisitions  since  the  first  movement 
in  March,  1917,  had  deprived  them  of  arms  and 
ammunition  of  every  description,  while  the  red 
rabble  owned  firearms  which  had  been  in  factories 
or  arsenals,  and  even  all  those  used  in  the  army, 
except  such  as  had  been  surrendered  to  the  German 


"THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR"  117 

conqueror,  destroyed  or  thrown  away  during  their 
wild  routs  of  the  past  summer. 

The  Teutons,  until  now,  have  kept  these  so-called 
troops  of  the  Red  Guard  well  supplied  with  am- 
munition. I  find  myself  hoping  sometimes,  that  in 
a  gesture  of  revenge  all  this  ragged  and  disappointed 
misery  will  turn  on  the  German  leaders,  and  serve 
them  with  the  treatment  they  so  justly  merit  by 
the  vast  swindle  they  have  practised  on  our  crim- 
inally childish  groups.  To  rouse  them  the  enemy's 
loathsome  game  was  dressed  in  fine  ideals.  Made  of 
Utopian  hopes  never  to  be  gratified  was  the  sheep's 
clothing  these  wolves  wore.  Little  by  little  they 
proceeded  to  debauch  their  converts  till  these  be- 
came mere  tools  the  enemy  used  shamelessly  for  the 
destruction  and  dismemberment  of  Great  Russia, 
Germany's  most  powerful  foe.  This  once  accom- 
plished, the  Huns  were  quite  ready  to  turn  away, 
and  indifferent  as  to  their  victim's  fate.  .  .  . 

Even  after  all  these  months  of  the  loathsome  sys- 
tem, the  monsters  who  invented  it  have  drawn  little 
good  from  their  infamy;  firstly,  because  the  same 
propaganda  they  created  has  rolled  back  in  a  great 
wave  upon  themselves;  secondly,  because  as  yet 
Germany  has  been  too  busy  on  her  western  front, 
and  at  home,  to  turn  soldiers  and  officials  into 
Russia  in  numbers  sufficient  to  take  complete  pos- 
session of  us,  as  she  would  like  to  do.  Also,  the 
Boche  has  been  unable  to  gather  in  the  quantity 
of  food  and  labor  from  our  provinces  on  which  he 
counted;  but  he  still  trusts  he  will  manage  to  remedy 


118  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

these  points  as  soon  as  peace  with  the  Allies  is  really 
signed.  Then  he  will  have  a  free  hand  in  Russia, 
he  foresees,  in  exchange  for  concessions  made  to  the 
Allies  elsewhere. 

All  parties  in  Germany  will  be  willing  to  give 
up  everything  else,  if  only  Russia  remains  to  them; 
for  none  know  better  than  they  the  real  value  of  our 
resources  and  the  qualities  of  our  race.  They  see 
our  unformed,  groping  millions,  as  docile  material 
in  the  hands  of  their  own  strong  disciplinarians, 
turning  present  defeat  into  an  eventual  glittering 
victory  for  their  fatherland.  Therefore,  while  am- 
bassadors discuss  general  peace  and  politicians  are 
settling  burning  home  questions,  the  enemy  can 
afford  to  let  the  pot  in  Russia  simmer  down,  hoping 
their  agents  will  keep  enough  propaganda  going 
and  that  the  disorder  they  have  ordained  will  con- 
tinue till  they  are  ready  to  go  into  Russia  and 
take  complete  charge.  Whether  the  Huns  have 
miscalculated  in  all  this  or  not,  time  only  can 
show.  .  .  . 

By  degrees  their  schooling  is  giving  results  which 
bear  the  "Made  in  Germany"  stamp;  as,  for  in- 
stance, by  the  recent  delightfully  frank  declaration 
of  Zinovieff,  the  Bolshevik  tyrant  at  Petrograd,  in 
a  speech  to  his  confederates  of  the  Russian  capital. 
Doubtless  these  men  were  at  a  loss  to  understand 
why,  after  having  made  the  peace  of  Brest- Litovsk 
with  the  Huns  and  become  their  creatures — even 
fighting  the  Allies  in  desultory  fashion  through  a  long 
year  of  weary  misery — suddenly  the  policies  of  the 


"THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR"  119 

People's  Commissioners  are  changed  to  the  point  of 
accepting  an  invitation  sent  from  Paris  to  meet  and 
confer  with  representatives  of  the  winners  of  the 
war.  These  simple  citizens  of  Petrograd  cannot 
comprehend  why,  while  his  army  is  still  battling 
with  Bolshevik  troops  in  the  northern  snows  round 
Archangel,  the  American  President  should  wish  to 
send  them  peace  messengers  and  to  invite  them 
to  a  meeting  on  an  island  in  the  southern  seas. 

But  Zinovieff  is  cleverer,  and  he  explains  at  once 
the  statesmanlike  point  of  view !  And  his  discourse 
is  published  in  a  Bolshevik  paper  at  Petrograd  for 
all  the  world  to  read.  .  .  . 

He  said:  "We  have  accepted  this  invitation, 
which  has  come  to  us  Bolsheviki  unsolicited,  because 
we  are  poor  and  need  help  and  provisions  of  all 
kinds,  which  these  new  allies — now  tired  of  fighting 
us — will  offer  in  exchange  for  certain  promises  on 
our  part.  The  promises  we  shall  keep  only  as  long 
as  we  are  pleased  to  do  so,  and  then  we  shall  act 
as  we  see  fit,  and  treat  this  agreement  as  we  would 
any  other  scrap  of  paper.  There  is  no  obligation 
to  hold  to  such  an  arrangement,  once  it  is  no  longer 
convenient  for  us  to  do  so;  and  meantime  we  stand 
to  gain  those  things  which  we  desire,  and  will  demand 
of  the  Americans." 

Small  wonder  that  the  various  other  Russian 
parties  showed  disinclination  to  accept  the  tryst 
offered,  and  refused  to  try  healing  all  Russia's  ills 
by  discussing  them  with  Bolsheviki.  It  would  take 
courage  indeed  to  go  as  representatives  of  the  Allies 


120  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

to  the  Prince's  Islands  after  ZinoviefFs  frank  avowal 
of  the  Soviet  government's  intentions ! 

In  the  hands  of  plotters  such  as  Trotzky,  the  pro- 
fessed ideals  of  the  Bolshevik  party  have  been  so 
thoroughly  debased  that  now,  I  fancy,  the  crowd 
about  him  is  only  held  by  fear,  or  by  a  constant 
appeal  to  its  worst  instincts.  Religion — deep-seated 
of  old  in  our  Orthodox  peasant  and  soldier,  and  only 
slightly  less  so  in  the  city  factory-hand  of  Russia — 
is  slowly  being  killed  off.  The  churches,  which  held 
crowds  of  poorly  clad  bodies  with  exalted  faces  in 
the  first  months  of  the  revolution,  are  empty  now; 
their  fagades  are  disfigured,  and  their  jewelled  icons 
and  candlesticks,  crosses,  and  missals  are  stolen,  or 
destroyed  in  the  melting-pot;  the  priests  have  mostly 
fled,  or  they  hide  themselves  in  misery,  and  all  that 
was  once  holy  is  desecrated.  This  by  what  was 
once  the  most  beautifully  devout  group  of  humble 
Christian  worshippers.  Before  this  newest  regime 
appeared,  they  had  brought  all  their  troubles  and 
their  joys  to  the  foot  of  the  cross,  with  a  splendid 
faith,  in  which  they  lived,  fearing  God  and  loving 
one  another. 

But  religion,  though  forced  to  burn  low,  is  not 
quite  dead  in  Russia.  In  Moscow  the  old  Patriarch, 
head  of  our  Church,  has  dared  to  remain  at  his 
post  and  to  live  on,  helping  his  flock  as  best  he  can. 
This  ancient  hero  has  even  boldly  bearded  the  lion 
in  its  den,  calling  it  to  shame.  Escaping  murder 
by  some  miracle,  the  venerable  man  has  published 
a  message  to  the  "Council  of  Commissioners  of  the 


"TftE  REIGN  OP  TERROR" 

People "  which  is  characteristically  courageous.    He 
says  in  part: 

"You  who  regulate  the  fate  of  the  people,  to  you 
I  address  these  words,  as  you  are  preparing  to  cele- 
brate the  anniversary  of  your  revolution  of  October, 
which  gave  you  the  power.  But  the  blood  you  have 
spilt  in  a  year  cries  out  for  celestial  justice  and  con- 
strains me  to  address  you  in  bitter  words.  At  the 
moment  when  you  took  possession,  promising  them 
peace  without  annexation  or  contribution,  you  sold 
the  people ! 

"You  gave  Russia  a  peace  so  humiliating  that  you 
lacked  the  courage  to  publish  all  its  articles !  Our 
country  is  abased  and  divided,  and  as  a  gauge  of 
the  contributions  imposed  on  it,  you  are  secretly 
paying  Germany  money  accumulated  by  others  than 
yourselves. 

"You  have  debauched  our  national  army,  and  in 
doing  so  you  have  robbed  it  of  its  soul — the  soul 
which  inspired  it  to  so  many  heroic  deeds.  You 
have  incited  soldiers,  till  now  brave  and  indomitable, 
to  give  up  defending  their  land.  You  have  extin- 
guished in  their  hearts  the  flaming  conviction  that 
none  can  show  more  love  than  he  who  gives  his 
life  up  for  his  people.  You  have  substituted  for 
patriotism  an  inanimate  internationalism,  and  you 
know  well  at  the  same  time  that  the  proletarian  sons 
of  other  nations  answered  with  devotion  the  first 
call  to  defend  their  nations*  frontiers. 

"You  have  refused  to  defend  our  country  against 


12%  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

the  exterior  enemy,  yet  you  do  nothing  but  mobil- 
ize armies;  and  against  whom  are  you  leading  them  ? 
.  .  .  You  have  divided  all  our  people  among  them- 
selves and  inspired  them  to  fratricidal  war;  you 
substitute  hate  for  Christian  love;  and  in  making 
peace  you  rouse  only  envy  and  jealousy ! 

"This  civil  war  you  have  lighted,  you  know  well 
can  have  no  end,  for  you  are  trying  to  establish  the 
triumph  of  a  spectre  of  universal  revolution  and  are 
sacrificing  to  it  the  workmen  and  the  peasants  of 
our  land.  It  was  only  you  leaders  who  needed  this 
humiliating  peace  with  an  outside  enemy,  so  you 
would  be  able  to  carry  out  your  intention  of  destroy- 
ing forever  interior  peace.  No  one's  life  is  now 
secure.  Innocents  are  constantly  suffering  and 
being  killed,  without  any  form  of  judgment,  accusa- 
tion, or  defense.  Those  whom  you  keep  as  hostages 
and  whom  you  execute  in  this  manner  are  merely 
victims  of  your  hideous  thirst  for  revenge  for  crimes 
committed  by  others  whom  these  did  not  even  know, 
and  who  were  often  your  own  collaborators.  All 
classes  of  martyrs — from  army,  church,  or  civilian 
groups — have  been  accused  vaguely  of  propaganda 
against  your  revolution;  but  no  proof  of  this  is  in 
your  hands. 

"What  insane  cruelty  on  the  part  of  men  who 
pretend  to  the  title  of  benefactors  to  humanity  at 
large !  Torrents  of  blood  have  not  quenched  it. 
You  have  pushed  the  people  to  pillage  and  to  the 
destruction  of  .  all  that  was  not  theirs.  First  the 
rich,  under  the  pretense  of  fighting  the  'bourgeoisie,' 


"THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR"  123 

then  the  well-to-do  peasants  you  have  sacrificed. 
You  have  multiplied  the  number  of  mendicants, 
even  while  you  realized  that  in  deteriorating  all 
these  citizens  you  are  bringing  the  whole  country  to 
ruin.  Yet  you  incite  continuously  all  the  rough  ele- 
ments of  the  population  to  facile  and  unpunished 
acquisition  of  anything  which  for  the  moment 
pleases  them;  and  however  you  hide  your  acts  under 
fine  names,  murder,  and  pillage,  and  violence,  will  al- 
ways be  infamous  crimes;  and  will  call  down  the  con- 
tempt of  the  world  at  large,  and  heaven's  ven- 
geance. 

"And  you  promised  liberty — which  is  a  boon 
when  it  guarantees  safety  and  happiness,  when  it  is 
equal  and  does  not  turn  to  arrogance;  but  this  is 
not  liberty  which  you  have  given  the  people,  for  you 
have  favored  the  development  of  the  vilest  passions 
in  the  lowest  element  of  our  population,  and  you  have 
left  unnoticed  crimes  which  are  unutterable — mur- 
der, theft,  and  rape.  And  you  oppress  all  civic  free- 
dom and  the  dignity  of  man.  When  no  one  dares 
buy  provisions,  or  rent  a  room  to  live  in,  or  travel, 
without  your  personal  permission,  it  is  not  liberty; 
and  when  whole  families  or  the  occupants  of  an 
entire  house  are  thrown  into  the  streets  without 
reason,  again  it  is  not  liberty. 

"Is  it,  then,  liberty  to  have  our  people  divided 
into  artificial  groups,  of  which  more  than  the  half 
are  preyed  upon;  and  when  no  one  can  declare  his 
convictions — political  or  religious — sincerely  without 
fear  of  persecution;  is  this  liberty  or  tyranny? 


124  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Where  is  the  liberty  of  word,  and  act,  and  press,  and 
faith  you  promised  ?  You  forbid  even  the  entrance 
of  the  Kremlin  to  the  Russian  people,  whose  sacred 
property  it  is,  and  whom  even  crowned  autocrats 
had  allowed  to  enter  always !  You  have  destroyed 
the  parish,  and  the  schools,  and  all  charitable  insti- 
tutions which  have  cared  and  helped  the  nation's 
misery  in  years  gone  by.  .  .  . 

"I  do  not  even  dwell  on  the  breaking  up  of  Rus- 
sia, yesterday  so  great  and  powerful;  nor  on  the  dis- 
appearance of  our  transportation,  the  lack  of  food 
and  fuel,  which  threaten  our  cities  and  even  many 
villages  with  complete  annihilation.  The  tragedy 
is  but  too  evident,  and  the  horrible  epoch  of  your 
regime  will  remain  for  long  reflected  in  the  souls  of 
our  compatriots,  where  you  have  replaced  the 
image  of  God  by  that  of  the  beast.  .  .  . 

"It  is  not  for  me  to  judge  terrestrial  power,  and 
all  forms  of  government  will  have  my  benediction, 
if  only  they  serve  God  in  protecting  good  and  ex- 
terminating evil.  .  .  . 

"To  celebrate  the  anniversary  of  your  seizure  of 
power,  end  completely  the  persecution  of  your  neigh- 
bors, and  of  other  innocents,  stop  the  flow  of  blood 
and  the  violence  and  the  ruins  which  are  now  about 
us,  protect  loyalty,  establish  law  and  order,  and 
give  back  to  our  people  the  peace  for  which  they 
pray !  If  this  is  not  done,  you  who  have  raised  the 
sword,  shall  perish  by  the  sword ! 

(Signed)  TIKHONE, 
Patriarch  oj  Moscow  and  of  all  Russia" 


"THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR"  125 

His  manifesto  was  published  in  Moscow  on  Oc- 
tober 26,  1918.  But  in  spite  of  this  old  champion 
of  the  good  cause,  every  crime  in  the  calendar  is  not 
only  still  permitted  but  encouraged,  while  lawless- 
ness remains  the  order  of  the  day. 

In  Petrograd  and  Moscow  misery  for  all,  with 
famine,  typhus,  cholera,  and  foul  air  caused  by 
dirt  and  decay  inconceivable,  reigns.  Water,  light, 
street  conveyances,  telephones,  and  other  public 
services  have  completely  collapsed,  the  brilliant, 
beautiful  capitals  stand  rotting  and  helpless  through 
the  months.  Their  show  buildings  are  mostly  in 
ruins,  either  from  bombardments  or  from  sacking 
by  the  mobs;  food,  when  obtainable,  has  reached 
prices  impossible  to  pay,  for  I  read  recently  that 
butter  was  one  hundred  and  forty-five  dollars  a 
pound,  and  dog-meat  ten  dollars,  while  pork  at  forty- 
five  dollars  a  pound  was  snatched  at ! 

From  time  to  time  from  Smolny  or  some  other 
confiscated  palace,  where  either  Trotzky,  L6nine, 
Tchitcherin,  or  Zinovieff  resides  in  slovenly  state, 
an  order  is  issued,  given  out  in  form  of  proclama- 
tion to  the  multitude.  Occasionally  the  latter  pay 
no  attention;  sometimes  they  listen  and  disapprove, 
then  the  new  law  dies  at  its  birth.  Once  in  a  while 
some  proclamation  captures  popular  fancy,  and  then 
these  children  of  the  gutter  rush  off  to  play  the  new 
game  proposed,  whatever  it  may  be. 

In  spite  of  starvation,  theatres,  operas,  and  ballets 
are  continuously  open,  with  free  seats  for  all.  .  .  . 
No  man  does  any  work.  Yet  one  can't  sleep  always 


126  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

through  twenty-four  hours  during  months  and 
months. 

The  banks  and  shops  and  palaces  afforded  inter- 
esting occupation  at  first,  but  these  are  done  for 
completely  now;  the  bigger  restaurants  and  hotels 
are  also  closed  down,  after  their  cellars  were  looted 
and  their  furniture  and  windows  had  been  smashed. 
Possible  fun,  consequently,  has  been  greatly  reduced; 
and  no  one  could  think  of  work,  of  course,  under 
any  circumstances. 

Labor  which  must  be  done  is  attended  to  by  a 
small  portion  of  the  inhabitants,  whose  fate  makes 
one's  heart  ache,  for  they  are  the  real  martyrs  of 
the  revolution— I  mean  the  ex-officers  of  our  great 
army.  In  the  capital  small  squads  of  them  have 
joined  together,  and  are  allowed  to  earn  the  pittance 
on  which  they  manage  to  keep  alive,  with  the  wives 
and  children  who  are  generally  dependent  on  them. 
One  such  little  band  is  hewing  wood  in  a  courtyard, 
another  is  cleaning  snow  from  the  main  streets, 
where  once  they  paraded,  commanding  a  marvel- 
lous army  of  heroes ;  others  sweep,  or  serve  cabbies 
and  their  friends  in  the  small  eating-houses  which 
these  frequent. 

An  acquaintance  of  mine,  who  had  fragile  health, 
and  was  the  gay  young  ex-colonel  of  a  crack  body- 
guard regiment,  is  so  lucky  now  as  to  have  found 
a  place  as  salesman  in  a  tiny  booth  at  one  of  the 
bazaars.  There  he  measures  tape  and  lace  for  the 
old  market-women  and  scrubs  the  shop  for  its  owner. 
The  latter  felt  enough  pity  to  take  him  in  and  give 
him  protection  till  death  should  claim  him. 


"THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR" 

In  his  hours  of  fever,  as  he  tosses  on  his  pallet, 
perhaps  he  imagines  his  strange  surroundings  are 
but  a  nightmare,  which  will  cease  with  the  morn- 
ing's dawn,  and  that  he  will  wake  to  find  himself 
still  leading  daring  scouts  in  enemies'  countries  and 
winning  a  St.  George's  Cross — which  he  did  during 
the  war — or  leading  a  mazurka  at  a  great  court  ball, 
as  was  his  wont  in  still  earlier  days.  Or  perhaps  he 
dreams  that  he  is  helping  one  of  his  soldier's  families, 
since  he  had  always  spent  his  income  in  this  manner. 
His  theory  was  that  as  he  had  no  estates  with 
peasants  to  look  after,  the  men  of  his  command 
were  his  nearest  responsibility.  Instead,  it  is  to 
scrub  floors,  shivering  and  coughing,  that  he  rises 
again,  and  patiently,  in  half-dazed  wonder,  he  asks 
himself  when  it  will  all  end. 

The  officers  who  were  free  to  do  so  fled  to  one 
of  the  several  units  forming — D&iikin's  or  Krass- 
noffs  volunteer  armies.  Earlier  still  they  mostly 
went  into  the  "shock  battalions"  on  the  firing-line, 
and  were,  if  possible,  killed.  But  where  a  woman 
and  small  mouths  depended  on  one,  and  there  were 
no  money  and  no  trains  for  flight,  a  man  had  to 
stay  in  some  big  centre  and  face  the  crisis  out. 
Immediately  when  the  Bplsheviki  took  power  the 
officers  were  disarmed,  their  epaulets  were  dragged 
off,  and  their  rank  and  pay  were  both  suppressed, 
even  to  the  small  pensions  of  such  officers  as  had 
been  wounded,  or  who  had  won  a  St.  George's  Cross 
for  signal  gallantry  on  the  field  of  battle. 

With  every  means  of  living  gone,  one  must  tramp 
the  streets  to  find  work,  and  take  whatever  offered, 


RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

and  though  the  new  rulers  did  not  want  to  labor 
themselves,  they  objected  to  seeing  others  do  so, 
thus  putting  them  to  shame.  So  here,  there,  and 
everywhere  the  officer  was  told  no  room  for  him 
existed  in  the  new  scheme  of  life,  and  he  was  re- 
viled and  baited,  repulsed  and  humiliated  from 
every  side. 

Many  fell,  faint  with  hunger  and  discouragement, 
on  the  streets  or  door-steps,  where  some  pitying  soul 
perhaps  would  take  them  in,  warm,  and  wash,  and 
feed  them  from  small  secret  reserves  not  yet  requisi- 
tioned; or  they  would  lie  unconscious  till  some  adept 
pupil  of  the  German  conquerors  passed  by  and  kicked 
the  fallen  body  into  a  gutter,  putting  the  officer  out 
of  his  misery  forever  with  a  blow  upon  the  head. 

Avowed  and  intentional  degradation  of  our  peo- 
ple, after  the  German  model,  has  been  thoroughly 
practised,  so  that  aside  from  crushing  our  religious 
beliefs  the  Bolsheviki  have  quite  openly  encour- 
aged immorality,  anyhow  and  everywhere.  In  at 
least  two  cities — Saratoff  and  Vladimir — procla- 
mations issued  by  the  Soviets  announced  officially 
the  "nationalization  of  women'*  and  the  adoption 
of  all  children  by  the  state.  Consequently  the  com- 
plete abolition  of  homes  and  families,  with  all  the 
strength,  responsibility,  and  happiness  which  these 
may  mean  to  a  community,  is  deliberately  aimed  at. 
As  no  results  of  this  measure's  success  are  yet  an- 
nounced, I  feel  privileged  to  doubt  whether  these 
newest  laws  have  actually  been  enforced.1  I  ven- 

1  Since  my  article  was  published  I  have  read  that  these  laws  were 
80  unpopular  that  they  had  to  be  repealed. 


"THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR"  129 

ture  to  believe  they  never  will  be,  since  in  the  gen- 
eral chaos  existing  people  are  apt  to  do  what  they 
please;  and  Russians  of  every  station  whom  I  saw 
during  nearly  twenty  years  loved  their  hearths  and 
homes,  their  mothers,  wives,  or  children  with  more 
intense  devotion  than  I  have  met  with  elsewhere. 
Therefore,  I  think  to  defend  these  many  a  man  even 
in  such  mad  surroundings  would  risk  drastic  pun- 
ishment. 

An  ex-member  of  the  ancient  national  Duma, 
just  escaped  to  the  Crimea  from  Petrograd,  made 
the  following  deposition  on  August  19,  1918:  "It 
was  decreed  that  all  persons  who  were  suspected 
of  having  communication  with  the  Allies,  or  any 
sympathy  for  their  cause,  were  to  be  immediately 
shot,  without  trial,  on  the  decision  of  the  inquiry 
committee  of  the  Bolshevik  government.  After 
this,  arrests  and  executions  in  the  capital  rose  to  a 
frightful  total.  Every  night  the  red  guardsmen 
gathered  up  crowds  of  former  officers  and  conserva- 
tive civilians,  and  took  them  to  Kronstadt,  where 
part  were  always  immediately  killed  and  part  im- 
prisoned. One  officer  I  knew  escaped  from  there 
by  some  miracle,  while  out  of  a  herd  of  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty  persons  who  were  arrested  with  him, 
two  hundred  were  executed  before  his  eyes.  Some 
months  ago  President  Uritzky,  of  the  Inquisitional 
Court,  was  assassinated,  and  the  Bolsheviki  at  once 
took  five  hundred  of  the  best  known  citizens  of 
Petrograd  and  held  them  as  hostages.  I  was  per- 
sonally among  these,  and  was  kept  two  days  by  the 
Committee  of  Inquiry;  then  I  was  thrown-  into  the 


130  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

state  prison.  The  conditions  there  were  dreadful; 
we  were  one  hundred  and  forty  people  in  one  room, 
where  because  of  lack  of  space  one  could  not  lie 
down  at  all;  and  we  were  obliged  to  live  in  such  filth 
that  we  were  all  covered  with  vermin.  Both  cholera 
and  typhus  broke  out,  and  as  the  prison  had  no  hos- 
pital ward,  those  who  were  ill  continued  among  us. 
By  way  of  medical  aid  we  had  the  visit  of  an  assistant 
surgeon,  who  came  through  the  prison  from  time  to 
time.  A  real  doctor's  services  were  refused  us.  We 
had  no  medicines,  and  for  food  we  received  a  salted- 
herring  porridge  twice  a  day,  which  was  often  de- 
cayed; each  man  also  received  an  eighth  of  a  pound 
of  bread  and  a  small  bit  of  sugar  per  day.  The 
most  remarkable  fact  is  that  though  I  was  locked 
up  for  two  months  in  such  dramatic  conditions,  I 
underwent  no  inquiry,  and  no  accusation  was  ever 
presented  against  me.  It  was  as  if  I  had  been  merely 
forgotten." 

No  newspapers  are  allowed  published  in  the  Bol- 
shevik domains,  save  only  those  approved  by  the 
Soviet,  which  constantly  show  their  German  train- 
ing and  inspiration.  From  the  Bulletin  of  the  Soviets 
of  December  3,  1918,  the  following  extract  is  elo- 
quent of  the  feeling  toward  the  Allied  Powers. 
Freely  translated  the  article  says: 

"Lloyd  George,  Clemenceau,  and  Wilson !  These 
three  men  are  directing  their  armies  to  oppose  Bol- 
shevik Russia,  which  is  rightly  esteemed  by  them 
to  be  the  most  dangerous  and  resisting  power  in  the 
world  to  their  theories.  An  Allied  navy  is  now  sail- 


"THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR"  131 

ing  from  Constantinople  to  Sebastopol,  probably 
intending  to  land  troops,  and  the  Allies  also  think 
they  can  attack  us  from  the  southeast,  through 
Rumania.  The  British  navy  is  only  waiting  to 
clear  out  mines  from  the  Baltic  in  order  to  throw 
itself  at  our  red  Petrograd.  We  know  quite  well 
a  struggle  is  imminent,  and  we  exhort  the  Bolsheviki 
to  surround  all  the  north  of  Russia  with  an  iron 
ring  of  discipline  .  .  .  that  same  discipline  which 
bur  government  abolished  some  months  ago  volun- 
tarily in  the  cause  of  liberty.  A  council  of  defense 
of  workmen  and  peasants  has  been  instituted,  and 
the  task  has  been  allotted  to  it  of  organizing  the  de- 
fense of  Russia  in  its  struggle  with  the  Allies.  Not 
only  the  army  and  navy,  but  also  all  matters  of 
commissariat  and  transportation,  as  well  as  of  mili- 
tary industry,  must  be  put  into  the  hands  of  a 
military  regime — that  is,  a  regime  of  violent  labor 
and  discipline. 

"This  is  being  done  in  accordance  with  the  situa- 
tion of  the  country,  and  is  necessitated  by  the  im- 
perialistic bandits'  action — that  of  Lloyd  George, 
Clemenceau,  and  Wilson !  We  are  compelled  by 
them  to  make  our  country  a  military  camp,  as  every 
day  the  cynicism  and  the  falseness  of  these  conquer- 
ors' policy  become  more  openly  declared.  Wilson, 
who  yesterday  was  an  eloquent  protector  of  the 
liberty  of  nations  and  the  rights  of  democracy, 
to-day  fits  out  formidable  forces  to  bring  order  into 
our  Revolutionary  Russia !  Wilson  is  the  leader  of 
the  fight  against  Russia,  while  Lenine  is  the  man 


132  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

whose  strong  arm  holds  the  torch  of  our  civilization 
aloft,  to  enlighten  the  whole  world !" 

In  a  Kief  Bolshevik  newspaper  put  into  my  hands 
I  find  another  equally  eloquent  but  entirely  contra- 
dictory official  communication: 

"On  November  19,  1918,  was  held  in  Moscow  an 
extra  session  of  the  Council  of  the  People's  Com- 
missioners"— the  Bolshevik  government — "and  it 
was  debated  how  Russia  would  meet  the  advance  of 
the  Allied  troops  which  is  shortly  expected.  The 
chief  of  the  Bolshevik  armies,  Leon  Trotzky,  rose  to 
announce  that  the  army  of  the  Soviets  would  prob- 
ably not  be  able  to  withstand  the  enemies'  offensive. 
'Being  so  numerous  the  Bolshevik  forces  are  de- 
prived of  the  concentrated  strength  of  organization, 
whereas  the  fall  of  Germany  has  had  the  effect  of 
augmenting  recently  the  arrogance  of  the  Anglo- 
French  coalition  in  a  proportiqn  difficult  of  evalua- 
tion. At  this  time  it  suffices  that  our  front  should 
learn  some  rumor  of  the  approach  of  an  Allied  detach- 
ment for  the  news  to  produce  immediately  colossal 
disorders  in  the  ranks  of  our  red  army,  making  it 
almost  impossible  to  persuade  our  men  to  battle !" 

I  cannot  vouch  for  the  truthfulness  of  all  these 
statements,  but  only  for  the  fact  that  the  newspapers 
containing  them  are  really  in  my  hands,  sent  me  by 
a  friend  escaped  within  a  month  from  our  sad  home 
country.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  Trotzky  and 
L6nine  must  really  have  much  anxiety  as  to  their 
powers  of  defense  in  case  of  an  attack  by  a  proper 
force,  well  led;  for  I  personally  saw  the  Bolsheviki 


"THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR"  133 

on  several  occasions  fighting,  and  while  they  always 
created  havoc,  and  infinite  tragedy  lay  in  their 
wake,  they  never  carried  out  their  plans,  but  were 
easily  distracted  by  some  side  issue,  and  showed 
themselves  ready  to  stop  for  food  or  drink,  or  to 
throw  away  their  arms  and  carry  off,  instead,  some 
booty  which  captivated  their  fancies,  and  which  in 
turn  they  soon  dropped  to  follow  a  new  scent,  or 
merely  because  the  burden  of  it  wearied  them. 
Never  had  they  organization  above,  nor  obedience 
below,  in  their  ranks  except  when  they  were  led  by 
Germans,  who  frightened  them. 

Our  people,  always  childish,  have  been  especially 
so  through  their  shame  and  misery.  They  have 
shown  ferocity  only  under  strong  incentive  and 
capable  mastery,  whereas  left  to  themselves  they 
have  been  chaotic,  noisy,  wasteful,  wanton,  careless, 
dirty,  gluttonous,  and  many  other  things  which 
have  brought  them  to  their  present  straits.  But 
never  are  they  by  temperament  bloodthirsty,  nor 
systematically  cruel,  as  were  the  French  peasantry 
and  citizens  of  1792.  Victims  who  have  barely  es- 
caped with  their  lives — and  they  are  numerous — have 
been  all  helped  to  freedom  by  some  good-natured, 
unlearned  giant,  who  had  been  set  to  guard  them; 
and  though  Russia  has  seen  torture  and  death  accom- 
panied by  every  sort  of  crime,  these  have  been  desul- 
tory cases,  or  else  were  exacted  by  foreign  tyrants 
and  inspired  by  foreign  theories.  Many,  many  of 
our  people  were  drawn  to  those  first  Bolsheviki  lead- 
ers or  have  since  followed  the  bloody  banner  because 


134  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

the  propagandists  held  out  promises  of  good  things 
— of  peace,  and  happiness,  and  prosperity,  and  the 
true  millennium,  with  land  and  liberty  for  all. 

The  converts  saw  much  in  the  new  doctrines  at 
first  to  satisfy  their  craving  for  ideals,  which  is  never 
quite  eradicated  from  the  mentality  of  the  Russian, 
of  whatever  class  he  may  be.  They  were  told  all 
men  would  be  brothers,  content  and  rich;  and  they 
saw  gold  and  were  treated  to  food  and  drink  when 
they  were  starving.  Small  wonder  they  were  im- 
pressed with  this  apparent  generosity  and  believed 
in  the  mirage  of  good  to  come;  and  when  the  Rubi- 
con was  passed,  they  found  themselves  outside  the 
pale  and  were  obliged,  they  thought,  to  stay  there, 
or  else  it  was  explained  the  expected  results  were 
just  beyond  the  next  bend  in  the  road,  which  seemed 
so  difficult  to  tread.  So  they  were  tempted  on. 

Afterward  the  culprits  were  either  frightened  or 
their  sense  of  morality  was  blunted,  and  wrong  still 
dressed  as  right  was  dangled  before  their  eyes. 
Then  finally  the  worst  elements  came  to  the  sur- 
face, both  in  individual  characters  and  in  the  crowds, 
and  all  were  dragged,  led,  and  cajoled  into  the  trap 
of  their  present  misery. 

Many  a  self-styled  Bolshevik  among  peasants  or 
working  people,  or  among  the  soldiers  I  personally 
have  known,  has  confided  to  me  that  he  joined  the 
party  because  "it  was  either  be  a  Bolshevik  or  be 
shot";  and  it  was  promised  him  he  should  have  all 
things,  after  a  short  period  of  disorder  and  trouble. 
I  feel  certain  many  of  these  men  are  sorely  disap- 


"THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR"  135 

pointed  now  in  results,  and  want  a  change,  but  they 
dare  not  say  it,  even  in  a  whisper.  ...  In  the 
crowds  of  Bolsheviki  I  have  seen  there  were,  of 
course,  some  heavy  criminal  faces  full  of  brutality, 
but  the  vast  majority  bore  the  signs  of  a  dull,  hope- 
less misery  and  of  surprise  and  fear.  Mostly  there 
are  mere  cowed  and  broken  wrecks  in  the  populace 
which  drifts  by  one  on  a  Russian  street;  all  look 
beaten  and  torn  by  the  storms  to  which  they  are 
subjected. 

I  have  not  been  alone  in  noticing  these  markedly 
distressing  types,  for  nearly  every  traveller  who  has 
recently  come  out  of  North  Russia  testifies,  con- 
sciously or  unconsciously,  to  the  sorrow  and  deep 
agony  he  has  recognized.  After  all,  these  men  and 
women  to  whom  so  much  was  promised  are  still 
hungry,  cold,  and  without  homes,  even  more  wretched 
than  before  the  revolution,  for  they  have  lost  ideals 
and  hopes  and  the  softness  which  was  the  natural 
atmosphere  of  life  in  the  old  Russia.  The  beauty 
of  their  cities  is  gone,  and  their  churches  are  all 
closed,  so  that  they  are  shut  off  even  from  the  out- 
side frame  which  brought  a  ray  of  warmth  and  sun 
into  their  tragic  lives.  I  am  told  there  is  much  de- 
sire for  improvement,  but  no  one  dares  be  caught 
by  the  present  authorities  expressing  a  wish  for  it. 

One  can  only  hope  and  pray  a  change  may  come, 
from  within  or  without,  before  Russia  shall  have 
reached  the  point  of  exhaustion  when  rebirth  is  im- 
possible. In  various  corners  of  the  great  empire 
parties  seem  to  be  forming  to  throw  off  the  yoke 


136  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

and  crush  the  tyrants  and  the  anarchy,  which  proves 
our  people  have  still  a  vital  force  and  a  warm,  beat- 
ing heart.  These  small  groups  are,  alas,  not  strong 
numerically  in  proportion  to  their  courage,  though 
they  are  growing;  nor  are  they  furnished  with  the 
material  wherewith  to  fight.  They  must  get  to  their 
feet  somehow  and  be  supplied,  before  they  can  aspire 
to  crush  the  dragon  who  is  at  large  in  the  fair  home 
domain. 

Will  the  spirit  of  St.  George  and  that  inherited 
from  Joan  of  -Arc  come  to  the  rescue  ?  And  shall 
Russia  see  Columbia's  sons  also  coming  to  bring  her 
law  and  order?  Or  must  the  Slavs  go  through  the 
purgatory  of  German  ownership  and  renew  their 
terrible  experiences  of  past  centuries  and  of  Tartar 
mastery?  Even  in  this  last  case  I  know  the  Teu- 
tons, as  the  Tartars,  would  finally  be  laid  low  by 
our  younger,  more  primitive  and  stronger,  race;  for 
'our  Russia  is  still  in  its  childhood,  and  has  fallen 
through  ignorance  into  the  hands  of  thieves. 

One  wonders  where  the  remedy  will  be  found  to 
cure  the  deathly  ailment.  Mostly  in  the  strength 
of  the  many  worthy  men  who  rose  up  and  from  the 
first  moment  joined  in  heroic  bands,  and  who  have 
never  ceased  their  struggle  against  the  terrible  odds. 
Such  is  Denikin's  army.  .  .  .  Perhaps  aid  may 
come  also  from  outside,  since  there  are  many  voices 
among  our  ancient  allies  crying  out  in  favor  of  offer- 
ing us  a  helping  hand.  These  would  give  of  their 
present  strength  to  the  prostrate  sister,  who  did  her 
part  so  grandly  in  the  first  years  of  the  war,  while 


"THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR"  137 

they  themselves  were  weak  and  unprepared,  and  who 
has  since  paid  dearly  for  her  sacrifices  in  the  general 
cause.  Such  voices  are  very  powerful  ones,  and  come 
from  men  of  varying  creeds  and  parties,  and  as  I 
read  their  speeches  I  am  filled  with  hope  that  succor 
may  be  tendered,  and  that  it  may  be  soon ! 

In  Paris  the  great  Lloyd  George  spoke  for  Russia 
to  his  colleagues,  and  then  his  plea  was  upheld  by 
Sir  George  Buchanan,  who  had  lived  in  our  country 
for  many  years  as  ambassador  from  his  Majesty 
the  King.  They  know  our  value  well;  and  here  in 
America  there  are  also  men  who  speak  with  equal 
conviction  and  enthusiasm  on  the  same  subject, 
and  who  say  that  our  great  empire  must  be  saved 
from  further  depredation  at  the  hands  of  Germans, 
or  of  the  latter's  inspired  agents ;  that  such  riches  as 
ours  must  not  be  left  to  the  exploitation  of  the  world's 
enemy  indefinitely. 

Each  man  who  knows  the  truth  adds  his  word  of 
warning  as  to  the  danger  to  the  whole  edifice  of 
Christian  civilization  from  the  spread  of  Bolshevism, 
and  each  one  most  solemnly  asserts  that  if  the  world 
is  to  be  protected  from  the  dread  disease,  then 
Russia  must  be  quickly  helped  and  saved ! 


IV 

THE  CRIMEA'S  EFFORT-DENIKIN'S 
ARMY 

MANY  months  had  passed,  during  which  the 
population  of  the  Crimean  coast  suffered 
and  gazed  wistfully  out  to  sea,  when  one 
day,  about  the  middle  of  December,  1918,  an  Allied 
fleet  sailed  into  the  harbor  of  Sebastopol. 

As  soon  as  the  flagship  had  dropped  anchor,  the 
commanding  officer,  British  Vice- Admiral  Calthorpe, 
was  waited  upon  by  a  messenger,  who  put  the  fol- 
lowing official  document  into  his  hands : 

"The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  of  the  Provisional 
Crimean  Government,  to  the  High  Commander 
of  the  Allied  Fleet  in  Sebastopol  Harbor. 
"In  consequence  of  our  recent  negotiations  of 
December  9,  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  the  high 
commander  of  the  Allied  fleet  of  the  following  par- 
ticulars concerning  accommodations  which  can  be 
afforded  Allied  troops  landing  in  the  Crimea,  and 
concerning   provisions   which   will   be   supplied   to 
them.     By  the  i6th  of  December  the  government 
can  install  at  our  capital,  Simferopol,  400  men  in 
barracks,  and  in  town-billets  600  more;  at  Djankoi, 
300  men;  at  Eupatoria,  500;   at  Feodosia,  500;  at 

138 


THE  CRIMEA'S  EFFORT  139 

Karasu-Bazar,  300;  at  Toganasch,  100;  and  at 
Perekop,  100.  Toganasch  and  Perekop,  which  are 
thirty  and  sixty  kilometres  from  Djankoi,  will  neces- 
sitate transportation;  and  this  the  government  can 
also  furnish  for  the  number  of  men  designated.  All 
these  groups  total  together  2,800  men,  and  an  equal 
number  can  be  quartered  in  Sebastopol  itself. 

"The  Crimean  provisional  government  will  pay 
for  the  troops'  installation,  and  will  furnish  the  Allies 
with  firewood  and  coal.  Also  the  provisional  gov- 
ernment considers  itself  in  duty  bound  to  supply 
the  following  provisions  to  Allied  troops :  One  pound 
of  bread  to  each  man  daily;  two  pounds  of  sugar 
monthly;  80,000  bottles  of  red  and  white  Crimean 
wine  in  casks;  4,000  pounds  of  dried  fruits ;  120  litres 

of  rum.  ,~.       ^  TT 

(Signed)  VINAVER, 

Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs" 

So  it  would  seem  the  Allied  fleet,  on  reaching 
Crimean  shores,  found  an  organized  government 
alive  in  the  midst  of  the  general  chaos  which  Rus- 
sia nowadays  represents  to  the  imagination  of  the 
outside  world.  This  government  was  a  new-born 
thing,  for  when  the  central  provisional  government 
fell  at  Petrograd,  in  November,  1917,  and  the 
Bolshevik!  took  over  the  power  in  the  north,  a 
period  of  general  unrest  was  inaugurated  all  over 
Russia.  The  whole  country  was  immediately  vic- 
timized by  uprisings  of  various  Bolshevik  groups, 
or  of  "nationalists,"  such  as  the  Ukrainians, 


140  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Letts,  Esthonians,  Finns,  and  numerous  Caucasian 
tribes. 

Stretching  into  the  Black  Sea,  the  Crimean  Penin- 
sula had  remained  calmer  than  the  rest  of  our  im- 
mense country.  With  almost  enough  resources  to 
be  independent,  with  small,  well-to-do  cities,  a 
population  of  comfortable  Tartar  or  Little-Russian 
peasant  proprietors,  with  a  large  group  of  rich  and 
aristocratic  refugees  scattered  in  villas  along  the 
coast,  able  and  ready  to  pay  well  for  safety  and  com- 
fort— it  had  a  better  chance  of  being  overlooked  by 
the  new  propagandists;  and  as  it  was  on  the  road 
to  nowhere,  it  was  used  neither  as  a  battle-ground 
nor  as  a  passageway  for  the  various  conflicting  forces. 
The  Crimea's  main  fear  was  of  financial  misery, 
an  effect  of  Bolshevik  ill  usage  of  northern  banks. 
Also  the  province  suffered  from  attacks  of  armed 
soldiers  and  sailors,  or  other  criminals  disguised  in 
uniforms,  who  made  up  occasional  parties  to  steal 
and  kill,  and  who  motored  over  the  country  doing 
what  harm  they  could. 

At  first  the  towns  had  been  very  tranquil,  and 
the  only  signs  of  the  times  were  the  arrests  of  mem- 
bers of  the  imperial  family,  who  lived  along  the 
cliffs  from  Livadia  to  Tchaire.  These  unfortunates 
were  threatened,  not  by  the  quiet  Tartars  who  lived 
round  them,  but  by  the  same  hooligan  elements — 
vague,  torn-off  shreds  of  the  rabble  in  the  north; 
and  because  money  did  not  come  through,  the  finan- 
cial establishments  in  Simferopol,  Yalta,  Kertch, 
and  elsewhere,  necessarily  limited  their  clients  to 


THE  CRIMEA'S  EFFORT  141 

the  smallest  payments.  With  provision  prices  im- 
mensely high,  it  was  a  problem  how  the  victims 
could  get  on.  Thus  in  dread  of  daily  suffering  and 
in  great  danger  they  lived,  hoarding  their  small 
resources  and  provisions,  worried  by  rumors  and 
terrified  by  occasional  demonstrations,  when  villas 
round  about  were  sacked,  inhabitants  driven  from 
home,  ill  treated,  and  frequently  wounded;  some- 
times even  murdered  on  the  spot. 

Soon  the  treaty  of  Brest-Litovsk  and  the  equal 
treachery  of  the  German  Government  and  its  agents 
— who  were  Trotzky's  and  Lenine's  representatives 
— brought  our  country  into  the  enemies'  net  com- 
pletely, ended  the  war,  and  opened  wide  the  doors  of 
Russia  to  the  Huns.  This  was  in  the  winter,  spring, 
and  summer  of  1918.  Moscow  had  a  German  Am- 
bassador then,  Count  Mirbach,  who  dictated  his 
country's  policy  to  the  docile  Trotzky,  while  Skoro- 
padsky,  Hetman  of  the  Ukraine,  joined  forces  with 
Von  Eichhorn,  Hun  dictator  at  Kief,  and  did  the 
latter's  bidding. 

In  the  south  our  Caucasian  peoples,  always  wild 
and  proud,  broke  away  from  this  new  Russia.  They 
had  been  held  to  us  before  only  by  the  brilliancy  of 
our  court,  which  appealed  equally  to  all  of  the  an- 
tagonistic mountain  tribes,  through  their  love  of 
splendor  and  of  visible  power.  Other  considerable 
districts  of  Russia,  also  secretly  encouraged  by  the 
enemy,  fell  off  now,  believing  they  were  to  be 
really  independent  and  free  from  tyranny;  but  they 
all  found  themselves  immediately  absorbed  by  the 


142  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

diabolical  German  octopus,  which  stretched  cunning, 
supple  arms  and  gathered  in  the  whole  country's 
riches,  whether  in  grain  or  in  men,  repaying  these 
only  with  empty  words  and  with  Utopian  promises. 
Never  was  there  such  misery  in  any  nation  as  in 
ours  through  that  time,  when,  unable  to  gather 
herself  up  and  reorganize,  frantic  with  fear  and 
suffering,  torn  with  the  violence  of  contending 
parties  and  ideas,  helpless  and  prostrate,  Russia  was 
all  but  dying.  The  various  provinces  called  "  inde- 
pendent countries"  were  treated  as  mere  colonies 
by  the  invaders.  Lithuania,  White  Russia,  the 
Baltic  States,  Georgia,  and  the  Crimean  peninsula 
were  all  proclaimed  "free,"  but  the  latter  was  the 
only  one  which  still  called  itself  "Russian"  and  it 
alone  had  not  been  either  mentioned  or  represented 
at  the  conference  of  Brest-Litovsk.  Germany  was 
sending  her  troops  over  all  the  northern  country, 
and  also  through  Rumania  into  Bessarabia  and  the 
Ukraine,  while  Turkey  invaded  the  Caucasus.  Sud- 
denly, without  explanation  or  excuse,  the  Teuton 
soldiers  appeared  in  the  Tauride  Government  (the 
Crimea),  and  installed  themselves  at  its  capital, 
Simferopol.  They  told  the  people  of  the  Tartar 
race  to  rise  up  and  create  a  national  free  state. 
"Were  they  not  Orientals,  and  were  they  not  living 
since  long  under  the  rule  of  Russian  conquerors? 
Now  at  last  these  were  laid  low,  and  it  was  time  for 
the  poor,  downtrodden  Tartar  tribes  to  form  their 
own  government  and  elect  a  khan  of  their  own  race, 
putting  themselves  then  under  German  protection, 


THE  CRIMEA'S  EFFORT  143 

or  else  joining  the  kindly  Turks,  who  were  their  co- 
religionists." 

Everything  was  done  by  the  Germans  to  awaken 
chauvinism  among  the  Oriental  portion  of  the  Cri- 
mea's inhabitants,  while  the  imperial  group  of  refu- 
gees was  ostentatiously  well  treated.  Their  guard 
of  Bolshevik  sailors  was  changed  at  once  for  one  of 
ex-officers  from  the  old-regime  army,  who  were  now 
given  as  their  unique  occupation  the  duty  of  keep- 
ing safely  the  Empress- Mother,  and  the  various 
Grand  Dukes. 

Somehow  or  other,  however,  this  German  propa- 
ganda met  with  small  success.  Our  officers  were 
glad  enough  to  protect  the  lives  of  a  group  of  help- 
less refugees,  who  until  now  had  been  in  danger; 
and  the  latter  were  equally  well  pleased  to  be  rid 
of  their  previous  guardians,  but  both  imperials  and 
officers  were  against  the  Teuton  enemy  they  had 
fought  valiantly  through  three  long  years,  and  whom 
in  that  time  they  had  learned  to  know  so  well. 
They  continued  to  dislike  the  Germans  even  now, 
in  spite  of  the  sudden  change  of  front  the  latter  af- 
fected. It  seemed  somewhat  naive  in  the  Huns  to 
act  as  they  did,  and  it  showed  the  measure  of  their 
own  principles  for  them  to  think  the  Dowager- 
Empress  and  the  Grand  Duke  Nicolas  (and  others 
of  that  party)  could  be  their  allies  under  any  cir- 
cumstances. 

A  khan  was  named  Prime  Minister — Sulkevitch, 
a  Mohammedan  Tartar — and  the  natives  of  Oriental 
origin  about  him  were  constantly  caressed  and 


144  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

courted;  but  whether  from  real  wisdom  or  from  in- 
difference, or  because  they  had  been  content  with 
their  previous  life  as  it  was,  the  Crimean  Tartars 
in  these  new  conditions  were  as  inert  as  the  im- 
perialists, and  gave  small  attention  to  German  flat- 
tery or  advances.  Anyhow,  they  formed  only  one- 
third  of  the  population,  and  they  had  lived  on  ex- 
cellent terms  with  the  Russian  majority  until  now. 
SulkeVitteh  and  his  German  protectors  became 
odious  after  a  short  time.  There  was  one  great 
advantage  in  the  Teuton  occupation,  however.  It 
was  that  railroad  communications  with  the  north 
were  opened  and  banking  operations  were  possible 
again,  so  provisions  and  money  could  be  arranged 
for  and  brought  into  the  Tauride  province,  while 
even  some  few  men  with  interests  in  the  north  or 
the  Ukraine  could  make  an  occasional  trip  on  busi- 
ness, or  for  political  reasons.  This  was  the  only 
benefit  of  our  enemy's  short  reign. 

From  January  to  May,  1918,  was  a  painful  and 
dangerous  period.  There  were  uprisings  forced  by 
the  Germans  in  many  cities ;  while  villas  all  the  way 
along  the  coast  were  destroyed,  the  well-to-do  pop- 
ulation slept  with  loaded  firearms  within  their  reach, 
and  every  refugee  hid  or  buried  the  few  treasures 
he  had  brought  south  to  save.  All  faces  became 
worn  and  gray  with  anxiety;  those  who  could  do  so, 
left  isolated  suburbs  and  villages  and  went  to  the 
larger  towns,  where  crowded,  and  in  intense  discom- 
fort, they  lived  on  from  day  to  day.  Nerves  suf- 
fered terribly  from  the  strain,  and  men  watched 


THE  CRIMEA'S  EFFORT  145 

anxiously  over  their  women  and  children,  trying  to 
keep  up  courage,  to  protect  the  old  and  delicate 
from  shock,  and  to  educate  and  bring  up  young 
people  in  circumstances  far  too  abnormal  to  be 
healthy. 

Yet  the  living  forces  in  our  Russian  race  did  not 
die  completely  out,  for  as  early  as  last  October  a 
meeting  of  representatives  of  the  municipalities 
and  of  the  country  districts  was  held,  and  it  was 
then  and  there  decided  to  make  an  effort  toward 
the  reconstruction  of  Russia,  beginning  in  a  small 
way  with  the  Crimea.  During  the  next  month — 
until  the  last  of  November — this  movement  strug- 
gled against  the  government  of  the  Khan  Sulk6- 
vitch,  who  was  still  upheld  and  protected  by 
German  troops.  When  the  armistice  was  signed  be- 
tween the  latter  and  our  old  Allies  in  November, 
the  enemy  found  himself  no  longer  strong  enough, 
nor  willing,  to  support  his  protege,  and  Sulkevitch 
was  persuaded  to  resign  from  his  post  in  favor  of  a 
new  local  ministry,  provisionally  formed,  which 
still  rules  the  Crimea,  and  which  hopes  for  Allied 
co-operation. 

This  ministry  declared  it  took  and  held  the  power 
only  provisionally,  until  such  time  as  Russia  should 
be  one  state,  with  a  chosen,  fixed,  and  popular  form 
of  government.  Wherefore  this  governing  group 
was  composed  not  of  Crimean  elements  alone,  but 
of  all  the  material  which  could  be  used  for  the  pro- 
motion of  law  and  order  in  the  land,  without  any 
reference  to  the  previous  places  of  residence,  or  the 


146  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

political  opinions  of  its  various  elements.  A  strange 
conglomeration  these  men  made,  if  regarded  from 
the  point  of  view  of  party  politics,  either  in  ancient 
days  or  in  those  of  the  revolution.  All  were  sin- 
cere, energetic,  and  capable  men,  of  great  ideas; 
and  all  were  practical  patriots,  their  one  present 
aim  being  to  keep  this  corner  organized  and  safe 
for  life  and  property.  It  was  their  ambition  to 
create  a  feeling  of  love  of  country,  with  a  small, 
well-oiled  administrative  machine,  to  be  ready  and 
at  hand  on  the  day  when,  God  willing,  Bolshevism 
and  German  influence  should  be  overthrown  to- 
gether. Then  one  might  hope  to  see  our  Russia 
breathe  again,  reborn  to  a  new  life  under  their  care. 
The  ministry  as  formed  provisionally  was  headed 
by  a  Prime  Minister,  Krymm,  who  represented  the 
Crimea  in  the  first  Duma,  and  later  also  in  the 
Council  of  the  Empire.  Vinaver,  Minister  of  For- 
eign Affairs,  and  Nabokoff,  Minister  of  Justice,  were 
both  St.  Petersburg  men,  also  ex-members  of  the 
Duma,  and  they  had  been  elected  to  represent 
their  districts  in  the  great  revolutionary  constituent 
assembly  which  never  came  off.  Incidentally, 
toward  the  end  of  the  old  regime,  they  had  both 
been  appointed  members  of  the  Russian  Senate, 
and  they  had  been  much  in  the  Crimea  in  previous 
years  and  knew  that  country  well.  In  the  young 
government  Bogdanoff  held  the  portfolio  of  the  In- 
terior, and  he  also  had  held  a  seat  in  the  Duma  for 
a  long  time,  while  since  the  revolution  he  had  been 
named  Commissioner  of  the  Crimea.  These  men 


THE  CRIMEA'S  EFFORT  147 

were  of  the  " Liberal  Cadet  party"  in  old  days,  and 
are  all  democratic  in  opinion,  though  not  Socialists; 
but  the  latter  group  also  had  voices  in  the  new  or- 
ganization, for  there  was  a  "Revolutionary-Socialist" 
Minister  of  Public  Instruction,  Doctor  Nikonoff, 
elected  also  to  the  unborn  constituent  assembly  by 
his  radical  party,  and  since  that  miscarried,  he  has 
been  acting  provost  of  Sebastopol.  Bobrowsky, 
Minister  of  Public  Works,  was  a  Social-Democrat; 
and  Stewen,  Minister  for  Trade  and  Commissariat, 
was  well  known  to  all  the  Crimea.  .  .  .  Admiral 
Kanine,  in  revolutionary  times  elected  commander  of 
the  Black  Sea  fleet,  dismissed  by  Bolshevism,  also 
had  a  brilliant  reputation  and  career,  and  he  took  the 
portfolio  of  Marine.  Consequently  there  was  no 
retrograde  element,  and  no  Bolshevik,  in  the  Cabinet 
formed  at  Simferopol — in  the  autumn  of  1918. 

Bark,  Ex-Finance  Minister,  with  a  group  of  fol- 
lowers, had  wished  early  to  re-establish  some  sort 
of  security  in  the  economic  world,  and  he  had 
formed  an  independent  financial  committee,  for 
Crimean  interests.  He  was  elected  its  president, 
and  was  then  asked  to  hold  out  a  hand  through  his 
association  to  the  new  effort  of  government.  Gladly 
this  was  done,  for  now,  as  in  old  days,  Bark  is  both 
liberal  and  patriotic,  always  quite  ready  to  offer 
the  strength  of  his  own  personal  power  and  his 
association's  resources  in  the  country's  service. 
Sazonoff,  equally  brave,  enthusiastic,  and  broad  in 
his  views,  consented  to  go  to  Paris  and  represent  to 
the  Allies  Russia's  needs  and  miseries;  he  would 


148  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

plead  for  their  help,  so  sorely  needed  to  keep  this 
new  effort  alive. 

At  its  birth  the  young  government  called  upon 
the  inhabitants  of  the  province  to  uphold  it,  by  a 
proclamation  which,  freely  translated,  read: 

"According  to  the  resolution  of  the  country, 
state,  and  municipal  councils,  the  Crimean  Govern- 
ment comes  into  office  at  a  critical  moment.  The 
war  is  nearing  its  end,  but  our  immense,  united 
Russia  no  longer  exists,  though  it  had  lived  for  more 
than  a  thousand  years.  Scattered  over  the  present 
torn-up  divisions  of  the  land,  bodies  of  evil-minded 
conspirators  are  bringing  into  existence  sentiments 
of  hatred,  smallness,  and  selfishness.  They  are  de- 
stroying what  we  had  of  culture  and  of  law,  of  right 
and  civilization. 

"In  these  circumstances,  we  consider  a  firm  de- 
cision to  restore  Russia  to  be  the  first  patriotic  duty 
of  every  citizen,  and  the  first  task  of  our  whole  na- 
tion. Some  few  states  which  have  survived  or  have 
reformed,  are  now  scattered  over  the  surface  of  our 
country.  They  are  separated  by  long  distances, 
one  from  the  other;  but  they  will  be  ready  to  join 
such  a  union  as  we  propose  when  it  becomes  pos- 
sible; and  inasmuch  as  Russia's  peril  is  the  conse- 
quence of  anarchy  and  of  wild  passions,  so  its  res- 
toration cannot  be  accomplished  without  a  reign 
of  right,  order,  law,  and  liberty  in  each  individual 
state.  All  efforts  must  be  directed  therefore  to 
this  main  purpose. 

"This    provisional    government,    in   speaking   of 


THE  CRIMEA'S  EFFORT  149 

united  Russia,  does  not  mean  the  old  bureaucratic 
one — a  centralized  state  built  on  the  oppression  or 
the  injury  of  separate  races,  conquered  and  ab- 
sorbed. It  means  a  free,  democratic  country,  in 
which  the  right  to  obtain  culture  shall  be  guaranteed 
to  all  classes  and  nationalities.  At  the  same  time 
this  government  feels  convinced  the  wealth  and 
welfare  of  the  nations  composing  Russia  can  in 
no  wise  be  founded  on  their  opposition  to  unifica- 
tion. A  tendency  toward  separation  would  make 
for  weakness,  and  this  policy  has  brought  our  coun- 
try to  its  present  pitiful  state.  It  is  of  the  utmost 
danger  to  normal  life,  which  we  all  want  restored  in 
the  Crimea.  Therefore  the  government  appeals  to 
the  whole  population,  of  every  race  and  class,  to 
help  in  its  fight  with  our  worst  foe,  and  to  support 
us  in  the  most  resolute  measures  should  they  be- 
come necessary;  and  we  rely  on  an  army  which  is 
ready  to  assist  us  in  any  way. 

"The  government  is  formed  of  men  well  known 
to  all  the  people,  and  who  must  be  in  permanent 
contact  with  the  latter.  We  rely  on  the  confidence 
of  the  inhabitants,  and  we  beg  to  be  trusted  by  them. 
Therefore  until  a  Diet  can  be  convened,  the  govern- 
ment has  appointed  the  Congress  of  the  Country 
and  District  Councils  to  remain  in  session,  and  we 
will  be  responsible  to  this  body;  which  in  turn  will 
communicate  to  the  government  any  necessary  in- 
formation as  to  conditions  and  opinions  among  our 
population.  A  law  as  to  the  suffrage,  also  one  as 
to  the  Diet,  will  be  presented  to  this  Congress  for 


150  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

confirmation  immediately — on  or  about  December 
7 — and  the  Congress  will  then  fix  the  date  of  the 
Diet's  inauguration.  We  have  been  led  to  this 
action  by  discussions  held  on  the  i8th'  of  October 
and  the  loth  of  November. 

"The  government  takes  on  itself  the  procuring 
of  provisions,  the  guaranteeing  of  economic  progress 
and  security  of  interests  for  all  branches  of  the 
population,  and  the  fulfilment  of  just  desires  among 
the  Tartar  and  every  other  nationality. 

"The  government  acknowledges  the  difficulties 
of  the  task  it  has  undertaken,  and  will  use  all  its 
powers  to  solve  our  many  problems.  It  appeals  to 
the  citizens  everywhere  for  support  and  help !  May 
pernicious  catering  to  wild  hatred  pass  unheeded, 
and  may  murder  and  other  crimes  cease;  may 
anxiety,  uncertainty,  and  danger  disappear,  and 
may  all  of  us  be  united  in  one  decision  to  push  with 
our  whole  strength  to  a  happy  ending  the  under- 
taking of  our  salvation  and  the  restoration  of  our 
country!" 

As  for  the  army  mentioned  in  this  proclamation, 
General  D6nikin — whose  record  in  the  magnificent 
Russian  army  of  early  war  days  was  excellent,  and 
who  in  revolutionary  times  succeeded  to  Brusilloff 
and  Korniloff  as  commander  of  the  southeastern 
front — had  gathered  about  himself  long  ago  a  large 
group  of  men,  all  volunteers.  Officers  driven  to 
desperation  by  the  situation,  both  on  our  front  and 
behind  the  lines,  came  to  him  asking  only  for  the 
chance  to  fight  and  die.  Soldiers  who  had  grad- 


LTEUTENANT-GENERAL  DENIKIN,  COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF  OF 
THE  SOUTH  RUSSIAN  ARMIES. 

Reproduced  from  "  Siberian  Opportunities,"  a  paper  edited  by  the  Russian 
Consul  General  in  San  Francisco. 


THE  CRIMEA'S  EFFORT  151 

ually  formed  their  own  opinions  of  the  Red  Guard 
of  the  Bolsheviki  came  too. 

Little  by  little  these  gathered,  till  Denikin  counted 
200,000  picked  men  or  more.  With  very  shabby 
and  immensely  varied  uniforms,  running  from  those 
of  the  Imperial  Guardsmen  to  bright  Cossack  dress, 
the  army  was  clothed ;  and  they  all  had  thin,  drawn, 
haggard  faces,  though  with  determined  mouths  and 
eyes.  They  made  up  for  their  other  defects  of  ap- 
pearance by  this  grim  look.  None  of  them  had  yet 
lost  their  faith  in  Russia's  future,  and  they  turned  to 
Denikin  with  perfect  confidence  that  he  could  and 
would  lead  them  somehow  to  success.  His  own 
personality — quiet,  strong,  and  completely  brave — 
was  that  of  an  ideal  commander  for  such  a  force. 
At  Yekaterinodar,  where  the  country  was  friendly 
to  him,  and  fed  and  housed  his  men  and  horses  in 
exchange  for  the  protection  Denikin  gave  the  in- 
habitants, he  had  settled  his  army,  and  it  soon 
doubled. 

Denikin's  sympathy  was  at  once  with  the  Crimean 
effort,  and  he  promised  to  the  fragile  government 
what  help  and  support  he  could  give.  When  the 
Allies  came  in  December  and  were  received  by  this 
organization  with  all  the  dignity  of  which  it  was 
capable,  and  while  the  populace  of  Sebastopol  and 
Simferopol  turned  out  in  welcome,  there  were  many 
discussions  and  consultations  among  the  chiefs, 
much  explanation  as  to  recent  developments,  and 
also  several  proposals  as  to  possible  future  action 
by  the  combined  strength  of  the  Crimeans  arid  the 


152  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Allies.  The  latter  were  entertained  with  typical 
Russian  hospitality,  and  though  poor  little  Simfer- 
opol has  less  of  brilliancy  to  offer  than  had  the  pal- 
aces and  ministries  of  ancient  days  in  Petrograd, 
the  national  heart  behind  these  fetes  beat  true, 
and  the  quaint  semi-Oriental  capital  made  a  pic- 
turesque frame  for  simple  receptions.  English  and 
French  sailors  and  soldiers  must  have  gathered  in- 
teresting impressions  from  their  experiences;  and 
they  were  doubtless  pleased  to  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  Bolsheviki,  and  no  one  to  fight  against 
upon  their  landing,  as  had  been  necessary  else- 
where on  Russian  coasts. 

Soon  the  government  decided  on  a  mobilization  in 
the  Crimea,  to  include  ex-officers  up  to  the  age  of 
forty,  if  they  were  able-bodied,  and  all  other  men 
of  military  age  as  soldiers.  These  were  ordered  to 
join  Denikin's  forces,  which  so  far  had  depended 
entirely  on  volunteers.  He  had  largely  gathered 
men  of  aristocratic  traditions  from  the  old  crack- 
guard  regiments,  and  they  had  gone  into  his  unit 
as  simple  soldiers,  willingly  doing  any  work  in  the 
ranks  for  what  they  considered  to  be  the  good  cause. 

The  new  Crimean  administration  also  made  a 
calculation  of  monetary  and  material  losses,  at  the 
hands  of  both  German  and  Bolshevik  criminals,  in 
the  province  of  the  Tauride  for  future  reference. 
Another  surprise  to  the  Allies  when  they  came  was 
the  organization  of  General  Krassnoff  at  Novo- 
Tcherkask,  who,  like  Denikin,  had  drawn  a  large 
following  of  volunteers  about  himself,  and  who  was 


THE  CRIMEA'S  EFFORT  153 

proving  his  talent  as  a  leader  and  administrator  of 
immense  energy  and  power,  holding  his  followers, 
winning  his  surroundings,  maintaining  discipline, 
and  creating  another  oasis  of  strength  and  patriotic 
organization  in  the  great  desert  of  misery  which  sur- 
rounded him. 

Both  these  generals  have  moved  about  in  various 
directions.  They  have  inflicted  already  several  de- 
feats on  the  Bolsheviki  and  on  the  Germans,  but 
the  armies  of  both  are  wretchedly  poor.  Ammuni- 
tion, uniforms,  underclothes,  food,  supplies  of  every 
sort,  money  to  pay  troops,  transportation  for  them 
— all  of  these  are  lacking;  and  the  units  have  only 
their  heroism  and  what  the  small  provincial  popula- 
tion back  of  them  can  offer  for  support. 

When  the  Allied  representatives  went  recently 
from  their  ships  to  confer  with  Denikin,  at  Yeka- 
terinodar,  they  were  received  by  the  general  with 
the  utmost  simplicity.  There  was  neither  space  nor 
money  for  official  receptions  at  his  headquarters, 
and  he  showed  nothing  to  impress  the  deputation 
save  the  evident  burning  spirit  of  his  soldiers  and 
that  of  the  commander  at  their  head.  He  spoke  to 
the  strangers  and  said: 

"During  the  last  four  years  of  war,  an  echo  on 
the  Vistula  and  the  Boug  Rivers  answered  to  the 
sound  of  each  battle  on  the  Somme  or  on  the  Marne; 
the  triumph  of  victory,  like  the  keen  sorrow  of  de- 
feat, was  equally  felt  by  all  the  Allied  armies. 
Though  ours  were  divided  from  yours  by  a  thousand 
kilometres,  we  were  rightly  linked  to  you  by  fra- 


154  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

ternity  in  arms.  The  Russian  army  was  destroyed  a 
year  ago,  not  by  a  military  or  moral,  or  even  tech- 
nical superiority  of  its  adversary,  but  only  by  the 
Germans*  plotting  and  a  blow  from  behind,  which 
came  through  the  propaganda  of  anarchists  who 
were  the  enemies'  agents  at  home  here  among  us. 

"The  volunteer  army  which  I  command  has  risen 
from  the  ruins  of  all  this;  and  during  the  various 
political  revolutions,  surrounded  by  enemies  and 
treacheries,  it  has  continued  to  fight  hard  for  the 
sake  of  Russia.  These  are  conditions  heretofore 
unheard  of  in  military  history.  This  army  remains 
faithful  to  treaties  concluded  with  the  Allies,  and  in 
spite  of  its  vast  losses  and  many  temptations  it 
has  repulsed  the  hand  of  the  enemy,  which  it  recog- 
nized was  stretched  out  maliciously. 

"The  Germans  have  taken  much  bread  from 
Russia,  and  they  have  paid  for  it  with  ammunition 
left  in  Bolshevik  hands.  These  are  the  cartridges 
which  the  red  armies  have  used  against  us  in  civil 
war  of  late,  and  our  fight  has  torn  off  the  mask 
which  Germany  had  worn  till  recently,  though  the 
Teuton  policy  has  been  hard  on  us  Russians  since 
long  before  the  war.  Our  people  have  much  warmth 
of  heart,  and  they  can  well  appreciate  nobility 
when  that  exists,  even  in  enemies;  and  so  it  was 
that  after  the  battles  of  Borodino  and  of  Sebastopol 
in  the  past,  we  became  friends  with  you,  the  French 
and  the  English,  and  that  now  we  sincerely  rejoice 
in  your  victory. 

"We  believe  that  present  events  in  Russia  are 


THE  CRIMEA'S  EFFORT 


155 


TURKEY 


Territory  which  has  been  occupied  by  Denikin 

but  a  tragic  episode  in  our  history.  After  this 
period  of  commotion,  which  has  been  violent  and 
painful,  will  follow  one  of  calm  and  of  great  recon- 
struction; but  our  wound  will  remind  us  of  the  past 
for  a  long  time.  As  Russia  renovates  herself,  and 
gathers  strength  and  might,  even  to  complete  res- 


156  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

toration,  she  will  never  forget  those  who  may  give 
her  help  to-day,  and  who  stretch  out  their  arms  to 
her  in  her  great  trouble." 

Such  was  Denikin's  spirit  at  the  end  of  December. 
Is  it  surprising  that  by  the  middle  of  February  his 
volunteer  army  had  pushed  back  the  Red  Guards, 
sweeping  the  country  northward  and  eastward  to 
Kharkoff  and  Poltava,  and  almost  to  the  Caspian 
Sea,  taking  30,000  prisoners?  So  far  all  this  has 
been  done  without  help  from  outside. 

On  the  southern  coast  of  the  Crimean  peninsula 
the  nobility  also  has  raised  its  head  again.  In  spite 
of  the  nervous  strain  of  two  whole  years  past,  the 
Empress-Mother,  unsurpassed  in  bravery,  again 
refused  the  Allies'  invitation  to  leave  Russian  soil, 
and  decided  she  would  remain  until  she  felt  abso- 
lute certainty  as  to  the  fate  of  her  two  sons,  re- 
ported assassinated  at  Tobolsk  and  at  Perm.  It 
seemed  her  Majesty  did  not  believe  in  these  deaths, 
and  that  she  inspired  all  those  who  surrounded  her 
with  faith  and  courage  in  spite  of  many  hardships. 
Crowded  into  the  tiny  villa  of  Ai-todor,  living  in 
the  most  difficult  situation  financially,  the  old  Em- 
press remained  the  same  dignified  personage  as  in 
the  days  of  her  glory  and  riches. 

Many  years  ago,  when  I  first  went,  a  stranger,  to 
Russia,  I  was  told  by  some  one  who  had  observed 
her  through  her  reign:  "The  Empress-Mother  is  a 
success  always;  and  were  she  not  a  sovereign  she 
would  still  be  a  charming  and  much  loved  woman." 
And  in  the  humiliations  of  the  revolution  and  in 


THE  CRIMEA'S  EFFORT  157 

the  months  since  then,  I  have  often  thought  how  true 
that  judgment  was. 

In  her  young  days  a  universal  favorite,  she  led 
society,  and  every  one  then  adored  and  followed 
her.  Her  least  caprice  was  law,  because  of  the 
charm  and  gentleness  behind  it;  and  in  the  court's 
brilliancy  she  managed  to  keep  together  a  circle  of 
warm  friends,  as  she  created  also  a  beautiful  home 
life  within  the  palace  halls.  Her  widowhood  later 
was  full  of  quiet  dignity  and  charitable  work,  and 
though  she  still  kept  up  friendly  and  family  relations 
which  were  altogether  delightful,  she  retired  almost 
completely  from  court  and  society  life. 

When  the  storm  of  revolution  threatened  and 
broke,  she  came  from  her  retirement  to  warn  and 
try  to  uphold,  then  to  console,  her  son  who,  blinded 
and  inert,  arrested  and  dethroned,  needed  her 
greatly  while  he  waited  at  his  headquarters'  staff 
for  the  decision  as  to  his  fate.  All  she  could  do 
was  done,  and  immediately  afterward  she  wound  up 
her  affairs  and  palace  home  in  Kief  and  took  refuge 
with  her  two  daughters  at  their  Crimean  villa  of 
Ai-todor. 

There  she  lived  on  from  month  to  month,  crushed 
by  the  weight  of  her  sorrows,  yet  refusing  the  chance 
of  comfortable  exile  which  was  early  offered  her  by 
the  first  provisional  government.  Russia  was  her 
home,  she  said,  and  the  Russians  were  her  people, 
and  she  would  not  leave  them  while  there  was  any 
hope.  Her  Majesty's  courage  never  failed  her, 
though  she  was  harassed  with  anxiety  almost  un- 


158  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

believable  for  both  her  sons;  and  she  herself  had 
much  to  bear  personally — discomfort  and  poverty, 
sometimes  insult,  and  always  threats,  not  to  her 
alone,  but  also  to  those  about  her  whom  she  loved. 

Once  an  eruption  of  Bolshevik  sailors  at  six  in 
the  morning  occurred;  they  ventured  to  disturb 
the  Empress-Mother  in  her  bed.  Rough  men  had 
walked  without  ceremony  into  the  villa  and  into 
her  room,  ordered  her  to  rise,  and  refused  to  retire 
or  to  wait  till  she  could  slip  on  even  her  dressing- 
gown.  Perforce  she  must  obey  instantly  in  their 
presence,  and  then  must  watch  them  fumbling 
about  among  her  clothes,  papers,  and  all  her  small 
possessions,  while  she  stood  in  night-dress  and  slip- 
pers, shivering.  In  spite  of  the  disorder  they  created 
they  had  shortly  to  admit  they  could  find  nothing 
compromising  in  her  baggage.  Finally  they  laid  a 
paper  on  her  desk  and  ordered  her  to  sign  it,  saying 
it  stated  she  was  found  not  to  be  mixed  in  any 
counter-revolutionary  plot.  She  signed  "Marie." 

"That  is  not  your  proper  name.  Sign  *  Marie 
Romanoff,'"  came  a  stern  rebuke,  "or  you  will  be 
made  to  pay  dearly." 

At  the  end  of  her  patience  finally,  her  Majesty, 
quietly  looking  the  tough  spokesman  in  the  eye, 
replied:  "I  know  how  to  sign  my  name;  and  on 
that  subject  I  take  no  instructions  from  you.  For 
fifty  years  I  have  signed  in  this  same  way,  and  I  do 
not  mean  to  change.  If  you  choose,  you  can  kill 
me,  of  course;  but  you  cannot  alter  the  fact  that  I 
had  my  reign  out  and  have  not  abdicated,  so  I  am 


THE  CRIMEA'S  EFFORT  159 

the  Empress-Mother  still,  and  that  is  my  signature. 
Take  it  or  leave  it,  as  you  please." 

The  men  grumbling  took  the  paper  and  went  out, 
leaving  the  Empress-Mother  chilled  with  exposure 
in  her  unusually  light  costume,  but  quite  undaunted 
and  triumphant  in  the  possession  of  her  room. 

Even  in  exile  and  poverty  she  drew  round  her  de- 
voted friends,  who  were  ready  to  offer  her  their 
purses  and  their  lives;  and  in  captivity  and  trouble 
she  still  was  a  success.  When  the  Germans  came 
and  replaced  her  Bolshevik  guards  by  a  regiment 
of  officers,  the  Empress  smiled  gently  and  sadly  on 
the  latter,  and  won  their  hearts  immediately,  giving 
them  new  life  and  hope.  From  time  to  time,  when 
allowed  to  do  so  by  the  revolutionary  authorities, 
she  received  a  few  of  the  refugee  aristocrats,  who 
gladly  came  from  the  Ai-todor  environs  for  an  au- 
dience with  their  old  Empress;  and  she  talked  with 
them  and  with  their  daughters,  whom  they  brought 
to  be  presented  to  her  Majesty.  Her  days  were 
spent  as  normally  as  possible,  holding  together  a 
group  of  ancient  associates,  and  she  was  apparently 
not  further  considered  a  danger  to  revolutionary 
ideals.  Had  she  not  fought  the  retrograde  spirit  in 
1916  ?  and  had  she  not  begged  for  the  banishment 
of  the  occult  forces  ?  And  also  she  had  implored  her 
son,  the  Emperor,  to  join  with  the  liberals  in  help- 
ing and  loving  his  country.  Even  after  all  she  has 
gone  through,  she  still  loyally  clung  to  Russia,  and 
lived  on  at  the  villa  of  Ai-todor. 

There   are  others  such  as  she  among  our  im- 


160  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

perial  family,  for  her  two  daughters  were  remain- 
ing at  her  side,  and  farther  up  the  rocky  coast  the 
Grand  Duke  Nicolas  and  his  brother  Peter  were 
waiting  patiently,  hoping  always  to  see  their  coun- 
try make  good  after  the  storm.  Each  of  their  homes 
had  been  raided,  and  the  old  splendid  chief  had 
acted  as  the  Empress-Mother  did,  and  with  the  same 
success. 

The  Russian  aristocrats,  though  of  various  types, 
have  stood  the  test  of  the  revolution  surprisingly 
well;  for  they  have  been  through  much  suffering 
from  lack  of  money  and  the  scarcity  and  high 
prices  of  necessities,  also  the  impossibility  of  com- 
munication with  their  estates,  or  with  the  members 
of  their  large  families,  who  are  scattered  over  the 
country.  In  January,  1918,  an  uprising  in  Yalta, 
as  elsewhere,  caused  many  of  the  nobility,  and  es- 
pecially the  officers,  to  be  arrested,  and  some  were 
shot.  None  of  this  group  knows  what  has  become 
of  dear  relatives  who  were  last  heard  of  at  the  front, 
or  in  the  cities  of  the  north,  and  who,  one  feels,  are 
probably  risking  their  lives  daily,  if  they  are  not 
already  dead. 

Sympathy  with  the  upper  classes  (accused  of  a 
counter-revolution),  like  being  a  member  of  these 
classes,  was  a  serious  crime  in  the  eyes  of  the  tri- 
umphant Bolsheviki,  and  at  different  times  there 
have  been  regular  persecutions,  always  accompanied 
by  house-to-house  visits,  inspections,  requisitions, 
and  insults  forever  renewed.  Living  on  through 
months  of  this  has  been  very  hard,  and  yet  has  been 


THE  CRIMEA'S  EFFORT  161 

stood  patiently.  One  day,  about  a  year  ago,  ships 
of  the  Russian  Black  Sea  fleet  appeared  on  the 
horizon,  steamed  as  near  as  possible  to  the  shores 
in  front  of  Yalta,  and  bombarded  that  city  and  the 
villas  about  it  for  three  long  days  and  nights.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  town  took  refuge  in  their  cellars — 
men,  women,  and  children  living  through  the  long 
hours  without  food  and  without  fuel,  with  scarcely 
sufficient  clothes,  with  no  beds  to  sleep  upon,  and 
unable  to  guess  when,  if  ever,  these  ships  would  sail 
away  again,  or  if  the  bombardment  would  be  fol- 
lowed by  a  descent  and  a  general  massacre.  The 
most  terrible  thought  was  always  that  the  enemy  one 
dreads  is  of  one's  own  race  and  people,  a  group  gone 
mad  with  fear  and  poisoned  by  false  doctrines,  all 
of  which  were  injected  by  the  Germans. 

From  outside  came  no  news  at  all  save  now  and 
then  false,  exciting  rumors  of  hope  and  rescue  by 
the  Allies.  These  raised  beliefs  only  to  cast  them 
down  again,  and  make  despair  the  blacker.  Small 
wonder  if  nerves  and  health  have  suffered  in  a  year 
and  more,  though  the  Crimea  has  been  the  most 
protected  corner  of  all  Russia.  Pride  and  blood 
have  told,  and  there  have  been  both  marvellous 
courage  and  great  self-denial  shown,  and  a  Christian 
spirit  rivalled  by  no  other  race,  with  patience  always 
both  of  word  and  deed  toward  followers  of  inferior 
rank,  who  lived  near  the  victimized  high-bred  group 
to  serve  them. 

Nobles,  officers,  members  of  the  former  parlia- 
ments and  the  old  government  have  saved  some 


162  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

forms  of  organization  about  them  still;  some  school- 
ing for  their  children;  and  what  resemblance  they 
could  create  to  a  useful,  healthy  community.  Al- 
ways ready  to  meet  destruction,  they  have  smiled 
on  with  brave  lips,  and  though  going  through  so 
much,  scarcely  any  of  them  have  spoken  or  thought 
of  vengeance.  Each  has  believed  in  the  future  of 
the  race;  each  one  who  could,  has  worked  for  the 
good  cause  of  law  and  order;  and  the  others  have 
merely  waited  patiently,  with  what  tranquillity  they 
could  command. 

Only  the  other  day  a  letter  came  to  me  from  a 
leading  spirit  in  that  little  colony.  After  describ- 
ing sundry  measures  being  taken  to  help  in  the 
movement  for  self-government  by  the  new  provi- 
sional ministry,  and  after  saying  to  me  something  of 
what  had  been  suffered  in  the  Crimea,  the  writer 
goes  on  to  tell  me:  "Recently  I  was  in  Yalta  and  I 
saw  your  people  there,  who  are  all  well.  Your 
brother-in-law  had  been  north  to  your  country  es- 
tates, and  had  in  person  talked  to  the  peasantry 
with  most  satisfactory  results.  I  admired  him 
greatly  for  this,  as  it  is  not  eight  months  since  your 
chateau  and  estates  were  sacked  and  burned.  .  .  , 
There  are  others  here  acting  in  the  same  way.  I 
am  impressed  with  the  general  faith  shown  by  all, 
though  I  have  to  admit  that  most  members  of  the 
society  clan  at  Yalta  seem  a  little  nervous,  which, 
considering  what  they  have  lived  through  during 
the  past  year  or  so,  is  hardly  surprising !  .  .  .  Now 
the  Allies  are  really  here,  and  I  trust  ready  to  help 


THE  CRIMEA'S  EFFORT  163 

us  in  our  effort  at  government  and  to  back  Denikin's 
army  especially.  One  feels  one  may  almost  count 
on  success  in  holding  this  province  free  of  the  poison 
already  injected  elsewhere;  and  perhaps — if  we  live 
— we  may  even  hope  to  repulse  the  dangerous 
enemies  from  other  districts  little  by  little,  thus 
gaining  more  ground  for  law  and  order  and  a  pop- 
ular government.  But  necessarily  a  long  period 
must  elapse  before  the  whole  country,  under  what- 
ever form  of  organization,  can  completely  recover 
its  tranquillity  and  prosperity  after  all  this  lost  time. 
Probably  many  of  us  will  be  killed  before  we  are 
through  with  the  work  we  are  undertaking.  But 
we  are  far  from  crushed  yet,  as  vital  forces  go;  and 
in  every  direction  small  attempts  at  resurrection 
and  constructive  work  are  apparent.  You  know 
my  personal  confidence  is  indomitable.  We  have 
always  throughout  history  stood  frightful  blows  and 
shown  tremendous  recuperative  power,  and  we  have 
vast  primitive  resources  at  our  disposal,  both  to 
pay  others  for  their  help  and  to  be  developed  for 
our  own  benefit." 

Such  letters  show  there  is  still  life  and  hope  for 
Russia,  and  that  among  those  who  have  lost  most 
no  time  is  being  wasted  in  laments. 

One  evening  long  ago,  early  in  the  revolution,  a 
small  group  gathered  in  my  salon,  and  they  talked 
of  the  future  and  of  the  new  Russia  to  be  built  on 
quite  different  lines  from  the  old  one.  To  my 
surprise  an  officer  suddenly  said:  "We  could  form 
again  sometime  the  best  of  armies;  and  it  will  be 


164  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

well  to  have  Denikin's  force  to  use  as  a  source  of 
concentrated  and  creative  strength  for  this  pur- 
pose. If  in  time  our  peasantry  becomes  educated, 
so  much  the  better;  for  then  as  soldiers  the  people 
will  have  gained  in  patriotism  and  love  for  the 
whole  of  Russia.  We  will  not  then  have  each  man 
thinking  only  of  his  home  village  as  his  personal 
political  unit  and  the  one  point  he  is  called  upon 
to  defend.  It  has  been  so  until  now;  and  largely 
because  the  rank  and  file  knew  nothing  of  geography, 
could  not  read  or  understand.  Our  peasant  soldiery 
thus  stood  unarmed  against  the  wiles  of  any  enemy 
propaganda.  To  them  it  was  the  village  and  the 
Emperor  who  counted;  and  when  the  latter  fell 
away,  nothing  of  common  interest  united  the  man 
from  one  part  to  the  one  who  was  a  native  of  another 
part  of  Russia;  so  our  army  fell  to  pieces. 

"Politically  in  the  provinces  it  was  the  same  with 
our  people,  though  agriculture  usually  makes  for 
conservatism  in  politics.  What  could  the  peasant 
of  your  Bouromka  village  care  for  the  trials  and 
tribulations  of  his  brother,  who  was  living  on  the 
coast  of  the  Baltic  or  the  White  Sea,  or  in  far-away 
Siberia  ?  Places  they  were  to  him  not  even  familiar 
in  name,  since  he  had  never  learned  geography.  So 
it  was  that  he  knew  patriotism  only  in  its  most 
primitive  form,  and  felt  called  upon  to  defend  only 
his  own  '  hata '  from  oncoming  foes.  Real  love  of 
country  must  be  spread  yet,  with  us,  to  include  all 
of  the  race;  and  our  people  must  become  educated 
and  well-governed,  till  by  degrees  every  one  of  our 


THE  CRIMEA'S  EFFORT  165 

peasants  will  be  ready  to  enjoy  his  share  of  benefits, 
and  also  will  do  gladly  his  part  in  the  general  duty 
which  must  be  performed. 

"While  this  is  preparing,  we  officers,  who  know 
nothing  of  politics  or  of  administrative  organiza- 
tions, can  only  sit  with  crossed  arms,  looking  on, 
or  join  D6nikin  and  contribute  what  we  can  to  the 
strength  of  the  cause,  thus  carrying  out  our  share 
of  reconstruction.*' 

The  proprietors  seem  still  to  have  confidence  in 
their  humble  peasants,  too,  in  spite  of  the  disillusions 
which  have  been.  Nearly  every  one  speaks  quite 
simply  of  going  back  to  ruined  homes  and  taking 
up  life  there,  if  not  on  the  same  old  basis,  then  on 
new  lines;  and  where  one  hears  a  sharp  criticism  or 
a  threat  of  vengeance,  it  is  generally  because  a  for- 
eign strain  of  blood  runs  through  the  veins  of  the 
speaker  and  puts  him  out  of  understanding  with  his 
people. 

With  the  officer,  the  ex-official,  the  Empress  and 
the  noble,  joined  also  the  bourgeois  and  the  peasant 
of  the  Crimea  in  this  effort  put  on  foot  to  reorganize. 
When  the  first  movement  took  place  in  October  last, 
and  the  present  provisional  government  was  formed, 
it  was  the  lowly  people  of  the  country  districts  and 
those  of  the  municipalities  who  worked  in  with  hearti- 
est sympathy.  They  had  suffered  least,  of  course, 
from  the  revolution  here  in  this  rich  southern  prov- 
ince— at  least  so  far — and  they  were  probably  less 
disheartened  and  disillusioned  than  were  the  other 
classes,  but  they  especially  wanted  to  make  the 


166  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

revolutionary  movement  a  success  and  to  establish 
its  first  ideals  and  principles  on  a  lasting  basis. 

To  preserve  and  keep  the  new-found  liberty, 
which  they  had  all  but  lost  again  under  the  German- 
Tartar  rule,  and  to  avoid  the  terrible  mistakes  they 
had  seen  made  farther  north,  was  a  fine  ambition. 
It  was  for  this  they  acted  through  their  representa- 
tives, elected  at  their  early  meetings,  and  who  stood 
for  the  people's  own  democratic  ideals.  They,  the 
poor  people,  promised  to  uphold  and  back  this 
provisional  Cabinet  and  Congress  in  its  labor  last 
October. 

Again,  in  December,  it  was  the  people  of  the  city 
streets  and  in  the  city  parks  and  theatres  who  re- 
ceived the  sailors  of  the  Allied  fleet  and  tried  to 
prove  their  friendship  as  best  they  could,  and  this 
spontaneous,  frank  reception  surely  had  as  great  a 
value  as  was  represented  by  court  ball  or  splendid 
banquet  offered  to  one  King  from  another  in  former 
years ! 

When  the  announced  mobilization  took  place  the 
poor  man  and  the  rich  both  gladly  gave  all  they 
could  offer  to  their  great  cause;  and  certainly 
Denikin's  army,  with  aristocrat  and  bourgeois, 
peasant  and  fisherman,  Orthodoxy  and  Islam  rub- 
bing elbows,  will  stand  to  the  most  ardent  republi- 
can for  the  perfection  of  democratic  patriotism,  well 
combined  and  organized. 

So  with  the  venture  at  proper  self-government 
started  on  the  Crimean  peninsula  before  the  Allies 
came,  the  experiment  seemed  full  of  promise  from 


THE  CRIMEA'S  EFFORT  167 

within.  Since  October  much  has  been  accomplished, 
and,  as  if  in  answer  to  the  prayer  of  every  sincere 
Russian,  the  Allied  fleet  came  to  them  two  months 
later,  apparently  ready  to  uphold  them  morally  and 
materially.  After  six  weeks  we  read  of  the  progress 
of  Denikin's  army  with  a  glow  of  triumph.  He 
and  his  volunteers  pushed  the  hordes  of  the  Red 
Guard  back;  and  the  reading  of  this  news  made 
exiles'  hearts  in  foreign  countries  beat  fast  with 
new-born  hope.  It  seemed  to  eliminate  the  danger 
of  this  little  Crimean  province  being  overrun  by  the 
barbarians  paid  to  destroy  it.  Surely  the  brave 
leader  with  his  unit  is  making  good. 

One  wonders  if  the  world  will  be  touched  to  ad- 
miration by  this  splendid  patriotism?  These  were 
men  who  have  refused  through  all  the  reign  of 
terror  to  admit  defeat,  and  who  after  a  year  of 
torture  were  ready  to  recreate  their  country  quite 
anew.  They  were  brave  and  generous  enough  to 
give  up  without  a  sign  of  complaint  the  traditions 
they  and  their  forefathers  were  used  to  through 
many  hundreds  of  years;  even  to  lose  their  fortunes 
without  murmuring,  and  begin  life  on  a  new  basis 
of  democratic  principles  and  of  legal  equality  for 
all  their  race. 

I,  who  have  been  a  Russian  for  many  years, 
though  born  in  this  calm  American  land,  would  ask 
every  citizen  to  uphold  my  adopted  people  when- 
ever and  wherever  it  were  possible.  Denikin  and 
his  men  are  fighting  for  the  cause  of  all  the  world, 
and  for  its  safety,  and  they  need  succor — mental, 


168  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

moral,  and  material — to  beat  down  the  powers  of 
darkness.  These  seem  to  be  threatening  every 
country  at  the  present  moment  with  the  poison  of 
doctrines  made  in  Germany  to  destroy  the  ideals 
and  civic  health  of  each  and  every  self-respecting 
race. 

Till  help  reaches  her,  the  giant  Russia  must  strug- 
gle onward  toward  her  salvation  as  best  she  can, 
amazing  mankind  with  her  strange  contrasts  of  de- 
fects and  virtues.  Always  mysterious,  at  this  mo- 
ment our  people  stoop  to  the  lowest  depths  in  some 
parts  of  the  country,  while  in  others  they  soar  far 
up  above  the  clouds. 

"The  Crimea — Denikin's  army,"  seem  words  to 
conjure  with;  words  which  when  written  against 
the  dark  background  of  the  terror's  story  will  light 
the  future  student  to  comprehension  and  sympathy. 
Now  already  they  mean  to  exiles  a  new  strength  of 
faith,  a  ray  of  hope,  together  with  a  better  and  ten- 
derer charity. 


V 
THE  UKRAINIAN  MOVEMENT 

"T  TERY  soon  after  the  first  revolutionary  move- 
^  ment  of  March,  1917,  the  factory  hands  in 
Kief  began  to  feel  the  general  fermentation, 
which  was  in  the  air,  and  which  over  the  rest  of 
Russia  was  already  causing  serious  uprisings  and 
troubles.  Wages  rose;  holidays,  always  numerous 
in  the  Greek-Orthodox  calendar,  increased;  while 
work-hours  became  shorter.  There  were  parades, 
where  red  banners  with  suggestive  mottoes  were 
carried,  and  in  the  small  gardens  and  restaurants  of 
the  city  a  happy-go-lucky  southern  crowd  f£ted  its 
new  liberty.  The  dramas  enacted  in  the  north  were 
lacking  though,  and  at  first  the  owners  of  manu- 
facturing plants,  or  their  representatives,  remained 
in  charge  of  their  property  as  usual,  and  were  un- 
molested. They  felt,  however,  that  things  were 
going  wrong,  and  that  their  men  were  becoming 
restless  and  unreliable,  and  might  soon  be  out  of 
hand. 

When  I  returned  to  Kief  in  mid  July,  1917,  after 
an  absence  of  some  months,  I  found  anxious  faces 
among  industrials,  and  I  heard  the  workmen  were 
less  contented,  and  that  there  was  much  agitation 
below  the  quiet  surface  which  met  a  casual  eye. 


170  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Most  of  the  great  manufacturing  plants  were  by 
then  running  in  the  hands  of  "committees,"  and  were 
in  a  half -hearted  way  producing  very  little.  Prices 
of  sugar,  flour,  and  all  other  supplies,  in  which  the 
Ukraine  is  ordinarily  so  rich,  were  rapidly  rising. 
Only  the  soft  climate  and  the  sufficiency  of  provi- 
sions prevented  riots,  and  as  every  one  still  believed 
in  the  constituent  -assembly  promised  for  the  early 
autumn,  and  considered  the  present  disorganization 
to  be  only  temporary,  stories  of  such  troubles  as 
had  occurred  were  passed  about  in  a  good-natured 
spirit  of  toleration.  I  heard  many  a  factory  owner 
tell  of  his  difficulties  and  his  discussions  with  his 
own  particular  group  of  "tovarishtchy"  (comrades), 
and  generally  the  story  was  made  an  amusing  one, 
and  showed  a  keen  sense  of  humor,  even  when  the 
joke  was  on  the  teller.  There  was,  as  always  here- 
tofore, a  warm,  patriarchal,  protective  feeling  for 
the  men  underneath,  for  whom  (whatever  their 
actual  vagaries)  the  owners  continued  to  care  with 
paternal  solicitude. 

Once,  as  an  after-dinner  tale,  which  kept  the 
salon  full  of  our  guests  between  tears  and  laughter, 
a  friend  told  us  the  following  very  typical  incident 
as  to  how  his  factory's  management  had  been  taken 
over  by  the  "comrades'  committee,"  and  his  super- 
intendent sent  away,  and  then  recalled  and  rein- 
stated by  this  same  group  of  his  workmen.  ...  "It 
was  about  a  month  ago,  when  our  people  first  grew 
restless,"  he  said.  "They  came  to  Peter  Ivanovitch, 
my  manager,  one  morning  and  surrounded  the  office 


THE  UKRAINIAN  MOVEMENT  171 

of  the  factory;  said  they  were  not  going  to  work  any 
more  under  him,  as  it  was  now  time  for  all  factories 
to  be  nationalized;  that  they  had  been  told  this 
only  the  night  before,  at  a  meeting,  by  some  great 
speakers.  The  latter  had  said  it  was  cowardly  not 
to  take  over  the  business  and  manage  it  themselves, 
dividing  the  work  and  then  the  profits  equally 
among  those  to  whom  it  properly  belonged.  Had 
not  the  peasantry  been  promised  the  lands?  and 
factories  and  machinery  were  in  equal  measure  the 
people's.  This  also  the  speaker  had  said,  and  they 
even  were  surprised  these  men  had  not  thought  of 
it  by  themselves.  .  .  .  Peter  Ivanovitch  reminded 
them  they  had  never  felt  any  severity  at  his  hands, 
that  he  was  Russian,  and  of  their  own  class,  pro- 
moted and  educated  by  the  owners;  that  they  had 
all  of  them  received  many  kindnesses  from  the  latter, 
such  as  hospitals  with  good  care,  free  of  all  charges 
for  those  who  were  ill,  Christmas-trees  and  good 
garments,  fuel  and  provisions  in  hard  times,  warm 
feeling  always  shown  them,  and  of  late  raised  wages 
and  shortened  hours,  in  accordance  with  the  new 
revolutionary  ideas.  .  .  .  All  this  the  committee 
of  workmen  admitted,  and  their  spokesman  said 
they  had  not  come  to  complain,  but  only  to  say 
that  now  they  must  be  masters  of  the  nationalized 
factory,  and  of  all  its  implements,  in  order  to  move 
in  the  spirit  of  the  times.  To  give  weight  to  his 
arguments,  the  spokesman  again  lengthily  quoted 
from  speeches  of  various  revolutionary  orators  who 
had  been  at  meetings  attended  by  him.  Peter 


172  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Ivanovitch  then  asked,  by  way  of  delaying  his  reply, 
for  a  few  moments  in  which  to  telephone  me,  and 
the  crowd  waited  patiently  in  the  yard,  its  leaders 
in  our  outside  office,  while  he  rang  me  up  and  in- 
formed me  of  the  emergency,  of  the  assembled  mul- 
titude outside,  who  for  the  moment  were  quiet  and 
still  childishly  confident  that  everything  would  be 
delivered  to  them  at  once,  according  to  the  proph- 
ecies of  their  leaders.  He,  however,  warned  me 
they  would  probably  lose  their  heads  and  begin 
breaking  things  up  at  the  least  sign  of  resistance. 
I  must  decide  on  the  course  to  follow,  and  he  would 
execute  my  orders  to  the  best  of  his  ability.  Know^- 
ing  his  resourcefulness  and  devotion,  yet  not  willing 
to  ask  an  exaggerated  sacrifice  of  himself,  I  told  him 
he  might  as  well  give  way  and  let  the  men  try  run- 
ning our  factory,  since  it  would  probably  save  his 
life  and  be  the  best  way  of  making  them  finally 
realize  how  much  they  and  we  needed  one  another. 
I  thought  it  would  be  too  simple,  however,  to  give 
the  property  over  to  this  crowd,  just  because  it  was 
demanded,  when  we  had  an  excellent  case  and  every 
right  to  our  own  buildings  and  implementation;  so 
I  said  I  hoped  he  would  at  least  protest,  and  tell 
them  I  would  carry  this  before  the  government.  I 
asked  if  I  should  come  out  to  him  at  once  by  auto, 
and  uphold  his  authority,  and  did  he  need  protec- 
tion ?  He  half  laughed  and  answered  no,  and  that 
he  would  do  his  best  and  would  try  to  save  the 
situation.  He  added  he  would  rather  handle  the 
matter  alone,  if  I  felt  willing  to  leave  it  all  to  him. 


THE  UKRAINIAN  MOVEMENT  173 

Naturally  I  gave  him  carte-blanche,  and  promised 
all  my  gratitude  for  his  effort,  however  things  turned 
out;  I  would  keep  the  motor  at  my  door,  and  would 
be  sitting  by  the  telephone  in  case  he  wanted  to 
change  his  mind  and  call  me  to  the  works  during 
the  day.  But  there  was  no  sign.  .  .  .  Time  passed, 
and  I  learned  that  after  much  parley  and  some 
rough  treatment,  my  Peter  Ivanovitch  had  been 
put  into  a  wheelbarrow  which  was  found  standing 
in  the  yard,  far  from  clean,  and  had  been  wheeled 
out  of  the  factory  limits  and  dumped  on  the  high- 
road. His  aids  and  foremen  had  been  driven  out 
in  a  herd  behind  him,  and  then  the  workers  had  re- 
turned to  their  acquired  estate  in  triumph  and  had 
taken  complete  possession.  'Nothing  is  destroyed, 
though,  Excellency,'  announced  Peter  Ivanovitch 
when  he  appeared.  'In  a  week  we  shall  return  to 
our  offices,  if  I  know  my  people.*  And  though  he 
had  a  black  eye  and  a  scratch  or  two,  he  looked  more 
amused  than  dismal.  ...  I  had  less  confidence 
than  he,  and  I  began  the  preparation  of  a  report  to 
the  authorities,  asking  to  have  my  property  returned 
to  me.  ...  I  hadn't  finished  with  this,  however, 
when  I  was  rung  up  one  day  toward  noon.  'Peter 
Ivanovitch  at  the  'phone,  and  will  your  Excellency 
drive  out  to  the  factory  ?  You  will  find  me  in  the 
office  at  your  service !'  I  was  amazed,  and  lost  no 
time  in  joining  him.  Respectfully,  as  in  old  times, 
the  doorkeeper  received  me  and  helped  me  remove 
my  dust-cloak,  and  as  I  glanced  about  I  saw  the 
chimneys  smoking  from  our  furnaces  and  heard  the 


174  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

ordinary  whirring  of  machines.  I  noticed  no  change 
from  previous  visits,  save  that  a  wheelbarrow, 
freshly  painted  and  covered  with  red  cloth,  heavily 
fringed  in  gold,  stood  by  the  entrance.  Peter 
Ivanovitch  gave  me  his  usual  quiet  smile.  His  eyes 
were  bright  and  his  color  high.  'We  have  just  had 
a  very  pleasant  procession  this  morning,  Excellency, 
and  my  best  hope  is  realized,'  he  announced  as  he 
closed  the  door  of  his  private  office.  'It  was  as  I 
thought;  our  men  when  they  took  possession  first 
examined  the  office  books,  which  show  what  deficits 
your  pocket  has  sustained  in  the  past  months,  to 
keep  things  going  here;  they  found  the  cash  safe 
was  quite  empty.  This  office  was,  therefore,  a 
disillusion,  except  as  to  the  possibilities  of  establish- 
ing a  comfortable  club  in  it,  for  the  elected  heads 
to  sit  about  in.  And  the  machinery  turned  out, 
after  trial,  to  be  worse  than  the  office,  for  it  required 
labor,  attention,  superintending  and  expert  knowl- 
edge to  run  it.  The  first  two  requisites  our  comrades 
didn't  wish  to  put  into  their  business,  and  the  last 
ones  they  did  not  possess  for  it,  since  all  the  upper 
expert  strata  had  been  driven  away  with  me.  To 
do  them  justice,  they  tried  hard  to  live  up  to  their 
new  obligations,  and  they  elected  another  committee, 
which  has  sat  here  for  the  past  week,  while  clumsy 
hands  and  inexperienced  brains  blocked  our  ma- 
chines with  oil  and  dust,  and  more  and  more  the 
whole  place  became  confused.  More  and  more  also 
chaos  invaded  the  little  world,  which  was  so  used 
to  be  cared  for  out  here.  It  seems  the  new  leaders 


THE  UKRAINIAN  MOVEMENT  175 

were  very  arrogant,  trying  to  hold  their  subordi- 
nates by  their  pretensions,  so  the  troubles  grew,  and 
when  last  Saturday  night  there  was  no  money  forth- 
coming to  pay  the  workmen,  and  no  fuel  nor  provi- 
sions were  to  be  had  from  our  storehouses,  which 
were  empty,  the  cry  arose  that  our  people  had  been 
better  off  before.  'Let  us  go  to  Peter  Ivanovitch 
and  ask  his  advice !  He  was  much  better  with  us 
than  are  these  lazy  louts,  who  sit  here  and  do  noth- 
ing for  us.  Perhaps  he  would  be  glad  to  return, 
when  we  tell  him  how  troubled  we  are.  He  has 
sprung  from  among  us  and  has  always  understood 
our  needs.'  So  yesterday  morning,  as  I  was  dress- 
ing, I  heard  a  great  clamoring,  outside  our  house, 
and  there  stood  a  crowd  of  our  workmen  in  the  road, 
with  a  small  group  of  spokesmen  in  front.  Looking 
sheepish  and  sullen,  and  evidently  humiliated,  there 
were  also  the  leaders  in  the  recent  difficulties,  and 
these  were  being  held  and  derided  by  their  erst- 
while followers.  This  seemed  to  me  a  good  sign  as 
I  appeared  on  our  small  balcony.  'What  do  you 
all  want?'  I  said.  'Peter  Ivanovitch,'  answered 
one  man,  turning  his  hat  and  twisting  it  reflectively, 
'we  have  tried  for  a  week  the  way  of  the  speech- 
maker's  advice,  and  it  was  all  wrong,  though  they 
seemed  to  know  so  much  from  book  wisdom  which 
we  do  not  possess,  and  they  had  promised  us  such 
pleasant  things;  but  we  found  their  plans  did  not 
work  out  well  with  us.  We  are  unpaid,  un warmed, 
and  unfed  by  these  rascals  whom  we  had  elected  to 
command  us,  and  now  we  have  come  to  fetch  you 


176  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

back,  Peter  Ivanovitch.'  'But  who  dares  to  imagine 
for  a  moment  that  I  would  consent  to  return  and 
risk  my  life  among  you  brigands,  when  the  next 
strolling  propagandist  at  a  street  corner  who  tells 
you  to  throw  me  out  again  will  be  obeyed.  No, 
you  would  have  the  factory.  Go  you  back  to  it 
then,  now,  and  leave  me  to  my  rest.  I  have  deserved 
rest,  God  knows,  after  twenty  years  that  I  have 
managed  you,  and  I  don't  want  to  ever  see  you  all 
again.  I  mean  to  go  far  away  to  other  republics, 
where  there  is  proper  respect  for  law  and  discipline, 
and  to  work  there;  but  never  here  again  among  a 
lot  of  knaves  and  fools/  With  anxious  faces  the 
crowd  listened,  while  the  spokesman  took  up  his 
argument  again,  told  me  the  many  small  dramas  of 
the  past  week,  which  had  piled  up  into  a  mountain 
so  heavy  it  had  crushed  them  all,  and  how  they 
sincerely  wished  to  be  governed  again.  Every  one 
in  the  past  week  had  wanted  the  first  r61es,  and  nat- 
urally each  had  had  a  desire  to  be  of  the  committee, 
or  at  least  to  superintend  some  special  group,  while, 
of  course,  none  of  them  had  the  necessary  knowledge 
or  experience  for  this.  It  had  ended  in  a  fight,  and 
the  pretentious  tyrants  had  finally  been  overpowered 
and  were  brought  to  me  now  for  inspection.  'See, 
Peter  Ivanovitch,  how  can  we  obey  those  who,  for 
all  their  fine  chatter,  we  found  knew  nothing  more 
than  we  ourselves.  They  sat  and  smoked  all  day 
and  played  cards;  but  they  did  none  of  the  things 
which  you  are  always  busy  doing  in  your  office,  so 
we  have  come  back  to  you.  Please,  come  to  us  and 


THE  UKRAINIAN  MOVEMENT  177 

direct  us  as  of  old.'  Considering  their  helpless 
ignorance,  I  felt  if  these  people  were  to  be  saved 
from  future  impostors  and  mistakes,  I  must  still 
keep  them  for  a  time  uncertain;  so  they  would  at 
least  appreciate  that  I  was  giving  way  to  their 
wish  by  returning.  For  two  long  hours  I  stood, 
therefore,  on  my  balcony,  they  begging  and  offer- 
ing me  new  attractions,  promising  me  perfect  obedi- 
ence and  devotion,  and  I  holding  off,  refusing  their 
invitations  and  showing  myself  completely  indiffer- 
ent to  each  added  proposition.  'Peter  Ivanovitch, 
only  return  and  set  the  factory  and  us  in  order,  and 
we  shall  fetch  you  from  here  in  the  best  "caleche" 
to  be  hired  in  Kief,  and  with  a  fast  "troika"  to  pull 
it,  so  all  the  street  will  turn  and  admire  as  you  fly 
by.'  I  really  thought  this  very  touching,  but  still 
held  out  firmly  and  answered:  'No,  I  need  no  bribes 
to  make  me  return  to  my  place  or  undertake  my 
duties;  but  it  is  the  day  of  liberty  now  you  say,  and 
I  wish  only  for  rest  and  to  be  left  alone  by  such  un- 
reliable people  as  you  are/  At  last  the  crowd  wept 
and  implored.  They  could  do  nothing  with  the 
machines,  they  said,  and  were  lost  if  the  manager 
and  his  aids,  whom  they  had  driven  away  only  in 
ignorance,  would  not  return.  Would  I  but  state 
my  terms,  since  nothing  they  had  thought  of  to 
propose  had  moved  me  ?  Though  in  days  gone  by 
they  have  had  the  greatest  kindness  from  us,  and 
were  naturally  in  the  wrong,  now  I  felt  sorry  for 
them,  Excellency,  for  they  are  not  like  people  of 
other  lands,  after  all;  these  are  but  children  in  nature 


178  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

and  in  mind,  and  quite  irresponsible  for  about  half 
of  what  they  do.  Thinking  they  were  sufficiently 
punished,  I  rose  finally,  stepped  forward,  and  said 
to  them:  'You  are  a  mass  of  fools;  firstly,  not  to 
recognize  that  we  have  been  most  liberal  always,  and 
have  done  and  were  doing  our  best  to  face  these 
difficult  times,  and  to  carry  you  all  and  the  factory 
through  them,  without  closing  down ;  secondly,  to 
listen  to  those  propagandists  who  naturally  try  to 
create  trouble  between  us,  because  they  are  paid  in 
proportion  to  the  results  they  can  show  in  the  way 
of  destruction  and  disorder  in  our  land ;  thirdly,  you 
have  blindly  insulted  me  with  your  offers  of  a  lux- 
urious equipage  to  drive  me  to  my  own  ancient  work 
place,  and  by  the  suggestion  of  other  bribes,  as  if 
you  did  not  know  me  well  enough  to  realize  I  would 
refuse.  Now,  since  you  have  at  last  learned  your 
folly,  and  you  merely  ask  me  for  my  terms,  I  tell 
them  to  you,  and  you  may  accept  or  refuse  at  once, 
and  definitely.  If  you  accept,  and  then  change 
again  later,  I  shall  say  nothing  to  you,  but  shall 
quietly  depart,  leaving  you  to  work  out  your  prob- 
lems alone.  I  consent  to  return  to  you  only  be- 
cause I  wish  to  serve  faithfully  the  master  of  our 
factory,  who  has  been  a  good  employer  to  us  all, 
and  because  I  wish  to  save  those  of  our  machines 
which  you  have  not  yet  ruined;  even  I  would  help 
such  of  you  as  will  work  well  and  are  willing  to  begin 
anew.  My  terms  are  these:  You  dragged  me  from 
my  office  and  ill-treated  me,  and  you  drove  out  all 
my  aids;  you  were  all  mobilized  for  that  purpose, 


THE  UKRAINIAN  MOVEMENT  179 

an  untidy  throng  of  humanity  in  your  work  clothes; 
you  will  go  home,  now,  and  collect  all  the  men  who 
took  part  in  that  demonstration  of  a  week  ago; 
you  will  all  clean  up  and  put  on  your  Sunday  clothes; 
then  you  will  come  here  in  orderly  procession  and 
will  escort  me  and  those  of  my  party  who  consent 
to  accompany  me  back  with  all  due  show  of  honor 
and  respect.  You  tumbled  me  into  a  rough  and 
dirty  wheelbarrow  when  I  refused  to  leave  my 
place;  now  you  will  find  again  that  same  wheel- 
barrow, paint  it  freshly,  and  drape  it  with  red  cloth 
and  gold  fringe,  and  bring  it  here;  I  will  sit  in  that 
in  preference  to  the  finest  carriage,  and  you  shall 
wheel  me  back  to  my  office  door.  Prepare  all  this 
for  to-morrow  morning.  Meantime,  return  to-day 
to  the  factory,  and  clean  the  machines,  the  floors 
and  the  courtyards  as  for  a  new  start.  I  myself 
will  engage  to  gather  up  what  foremen  I  can  find, 
and  we  will  return  to  our  work  to-morrow  with  all 
memory  of  these  painful  days  effaced,  and  will  be 
ready  as  before  to  help  you  to  the  best  of  our  ability, 
so  we  may  all  do  our  duty  together.*  The  heads  of 
his  audience  went  up,  and  with  joy  and  gratitude 
the  men  thanked  and  blessed  Peter  Ivanovitch  for 
his  generosity.  Everything  was  done  exactly  as  he 
had  ordered.  Early  the  following  morning  the  same 
crowd  of  the  previous  day  presented  itself  at  his 
door  in  gay  holiday  dress,  and  with  serious  faces. 
The  old  wheelbarrow  in  its  unexpected  finery  was 
solemnly  brought  forward,  and  my  manager  took 
his  seat  upon  it,  with  a  manner  which  made  it  a  full- 


180  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

fledged  triumphal  car.  With  his  lieutenants  about 
him,  he  sat  tranquil,  while  slowly  and  quietly  they 
all  marched  to  the  factory's  office  door.  The  place 
was  clean  as  never  since  the  buildings  had  been 
opened,  and  Peter  Ivanovitch  on  the  entrance  steps 
turned  and  thanked  'his  children'  in  exactly  the 
old  tone,  whose  kindly  note  had  held  their  affections 
for  many  years.  .  .  .  'Luckily,  they  had  done  no 
harm  they  could  not  easily  undo.  By  their  repara- 
tion and  general  cleaning  up,  and  by  their  readiness 
to  fall  into  line  with  their  chief's  ideas,  they  felt 
they  had  gone  back  by  the  same  road,  to  the  turn- 
ing which  they  had  chosen  wrong  and  had  begun 
over  again.  They  are  good  children,  and  see  their 
folly,  for  which,  after  all,  they  are  not  really  to 
blame  so  much  as  are  those  damnable  German 
agents,  who  are  always  among  us,  spreading  poi- 
sonous doctrines.  I  trust,  Excellency,'  ended  Peter 
Ivanovitch,  'you  will  not  feel  obliged  to  punish 
these  men  further;  as  while  I  did  not  promise,  I 
think  they  hope  for  my  complete  forgiveness  of  the 
harm  done  me,  and  that  they  count  on  my  protec- 
tion to  save  them  from  further  humiliation.  After 
what  they  offered  me  by  way  of  reparation,  they 
believe  I  will  not  report  their  wickedness  to  you. 
They  have  lost  two  weeks'  wages,  anyhow,  and  I 
think  we  shall  have  no  further  troubles/ 

"I  don't  quite  believe,"  added  the  story-teller, 
"in  such  Utopian  results  as  my  manager  predicts, 
but  of  course  I  fell  in  with  his  schemes,  and  for  the 
moment  all  is  going  well — till  the  next  time  some 
new  prophet  passes,  I  suppose." 


THE  UKRAINIAN  MOVEMENT  181 

His  anecdote  sounded  encouraging,  as  it  was 
related,  and  the  upper  classes  tried  to  be  light- 
hearted,  anyhow,  and  to  hope  that  things  would 
mend;  but  day  by  day  the  clouds  piled  higher  on  the 
political  and  economic  horizon,  the  restless  spirit 
grew,  and  principles  and  common  sense  were  sub- 
merged, largely  through  the  enemy's  efforts  and  ex- 
cellent organization.  Poor  Peter  Ivanovitch  did  not 
live  the  year  out,  I  heard  afterward,  but  was  killed 
in  a  riot,  while  the  factory  of  my  story  went  up  in 
flames  late  that  same  autumn. 

In  November,  1917,  after  a  week  of  terrible  ten- 
sion, and  after  long  negotiations,  much  fighting, 
rioting  and  killing  in  our  gay  city  of  Kief,  and  es- 
pecially through  false  play  on  the  part  of  the  Austro- 
Ukrainians,  the  latter  took  complete  possession  of 
all  power,  and  then  established  order  according  to 
their  own  theories.  For  a  time  the  city  was  fairly 
quiet,  and  the  pleasure-loving  Little-Russians  led 
their  lives  unmolested,  facing  only  difficulties  of 
extremely  reduced  incomes,  and  extremely  high 
prices  on  all  necessities. 

At  once,  in  the  beginning  of  their  triumph,  Gen- 
eral Skoropadsky  was  elected  "Hetman"  of  the 
Ukrainian  Cossacks.  He  occupied  continuously, 
the  most  prominent  place  held  by  any  Russian 
in  Kief,  until  his  disappearance  from  the  scene, 
which  was  after  the  departure  of  the  Germans  from 
Kief.  Just  before  his  election,  and  before  we  left, 
he  came  to  my  husband,  trying  to  persuade  the 
latter  to  remain  in  the  city  and  undertake  with  him 
the  adventure  which  he  planned.  Of  ancient  Cos- 


182  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

sack  lineage,  though  untitled,  Pavel  Mihailovitch 
Skoropadsky  represented  as  blue  blood  and  as  fine 
traditions  as  any  Slav  in  Little-Russia.  His  own 
great  fortune  and  his  wife's,  and  their  powerful  re- 
lations, had  placed  them  from  early  childhood  in 
delightful  situations.  He  had  graduated  from  the 
Imperial- Page-Corps,  been  immediately  promoted 
into  the  first  regiment  of  the  empire  (her  Majesty 
the  Empress-Mother's  Chevalier  Guards).  He  had 
been  made  aide-de-camp  to  the  Emperor,  and  hav- 
ing asked,  during  the  Japanese  War,  for  service  in 
Siberia,  he  was  sent  there  on  a  special  mission  and 
was  awarded  the  "Golden  Sword"  on  his  return. 
After  his  Oriental  campaign  he  was  at  once  pushed 
forward  by  his  court  protections,  and  was  given 
command,  first  of  a  regiment  of  the  line,  then  of  the 
"Emperor's  Own  Horse  Guards,"  and  following  on 
these  the  command  of  the  first  brigade  of  the  Impe- 
rial Cavalry  of  the  Guard.  Always  an  excellent  offi- 
cer, his  attention  to  questions  of  service  and  his 
bravery  kept  him  (with  his  name  and  fortune  to 
help)  conspicuously  to  the  fore,  and  when  the  great 
war  came,  Skoropadsky 's  luck  was  proverbial.  In 
the  first  battles  of  the  East  Prussian  campaign,  the 
troops  under  him  won  the  St.  George's  Cross  for  their 
commander  by  a  brilliant  feat  of  arms.  Within  a 
year  he  had  received  a  division,  and  soon  after  tem- 
porarily was  given  a  corps  and  promoted  lieutenant- 
general.  Fairly  tall  and  well  made,  with  (at  the 
age  of  forty-three)  a  face  of  most  guileless  expression, 
extremely  blue  eyes  and  light  skin  and  hair,  he  was 


THE  UKRAINIAN  MOVEMENT  183 

always  rather  quiet  in  company  and  gave  an  im- 
pression of  simplicity  which  was  entirely  false. 
Among  his  comrades  of  twenty  years  past,  he  had 
the  reputation  of  such  uncommon  adroitness  as  to 
have  been  nicknamed  "Foxy-Skoro,"  and  those  in 
his  old  regiment  who  knew  him  best  were  least  fond 
of  him,  somehow,  though  with  no  definite  reason  to 
give  for  their  feeling.  I  remember  at  the  beginning 
of  the  war,  he  passed  a  group  of  us  one  day,  and 
an  old  comrade  of  his  said:  "Well,  whatever  else 
happens,  Skoro  will  come  back  a  field-marshal." 
"And,  if  by  chance,  the  Germans  were  to  win?" 
asked  a  bystander.  "He  will  be  at  once  placed  in 
the  highest  court  position  William  has  to  spare  !  .  .  . 
No;  I  don't  mean  to  say  he  will  do  anything  wrong 
for  it,  but  somehow  the  thing  will  just  come  about." 
"Then  suppose  we  have  a  revolution,  by  chance?" 
"Oh,  then  he  will  be  the  modern  Robespierre  for  a 
while,  till  the  moment  comes  for  him  to  play  the 
Napoleonic  dictator.  Of  course,  he  may  get  killed, 
for,  to  do  him  justice,  he  always  plays  his  game  with 
courage."  It  was  strange  how  truly  his  comrades 
understood  the  deep,  still  nature,  and  foretold  the 
man's  future.  Though  of  the  Emperor's  suite, 
after  the  first  provisional  government  was  an  estab- 
lished fact,  Skoropadsky  became  its  avowed  ad- 
mirer and  friend,  and  he  did  much  useful  work  for 
it  at  various  points,  around  and  before  Kief.  He 
was  lucky,  as  usual,  in  avoiding  the  firing-line  when 
the  great  routs  occurred  on  the  front.  When  the 
Ukrainian  propaganda  was  at  its  height,  he  ap- 


184  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

peared  in  Kief  on  leave,  and  in  Cossack  dress;  and 
his  family  traditions  were  naturally  recalled  to  the 
mind  of  many  people,  while  the  old  Ukrainian  name 
of  Skoropadsky  was  constantly  appearing  in  the 
public  press.  He  himself  met  and  cultivated  various 
members  of  the  "Rada,"  who  were  duly  brought  to 
realize  that  one  of  this  man's  ancestors  had  been 
"Hetman  of  the  Ukrainian  Cossacks"  in  early  Rus- 
sian history.  Somehow,  the  suggestion  was  made 
that  he  was  the  ideal  figurehead  for  the  newly 
formed  nationalist  army.  Skoropadsky  in  the  situa- 
tion was  naturally  most  anxious  to  accept  the  new 
title  and  post;  yet  he  somewhat  feared  the  opinion 
and  criticism  of  his  early  associates,  and  of  his  own 
class  generally.  He  at  once  called  on  a  number  of 
people  to  discover  their  point  of  view  as  to  his 
intentions,  and  also,  if  possible,  hoping  to  strengthen 
his  position  by  persuading  them  to  join  in  the  move 
and  uphold  him.  In  a  very  few  cases  he  succeeded, 
but  it  was  a  small  minority  who  sympathized  with 
his  ideas  and  ambitions,  and  he  was  instead  generally 
criticised.  To  my  husband,  in  a  long  conversation, 
he  frankly  admitted  his  views,  saying  he  considered 
under  the  circumstances  (and  since  the  fall  of  the 
imperial  and  provisional  governments)  it  was  up 
to  each  man  to  save  what  he  could  for  himself  indi- 
vidually. His  estates  being  in  Little-Russia,  he  had 
embraced  the  nationalist  Ukrainian  movement,  and 
he  meant  to  throw  all  his  strength  into  it,  if  he  could 
by  so  doing  manage  to  hold  the  Cossack  force,  of 
which  he  had  accepted  the  command,  and  protect 


THE  UKRAINIAN  MOVEMENT 


185 


Crimea  and  Ukraine 

his  lands  and  those  of  his  class  from  confiscation. 
He  wanted  my  husband  to  join  in  this  good  work, 
throwing  all  Cantacuzene's  influence  and  pop- 
ularity into  gathering  recruits,  etc.  "But  the 
Ukrainian  party  is  Austrian,  built  up  by  enemy 
money  and  propaganda,  and  I  have  actually  had  the 


186  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

proofs  of  this  in  my  hands  during  the  six  months  I 
have  been  fighting  it,"  was  my  husband's  objection. 
Skoropadsky  immediately  admitted  this  fact,  and 
went  on  quite  cynically  to  say  that  he  felt  such  a 
detail  to  be  of  no  particular  importance  as  compared 
to  the  chance  of  keeping  law  and  order,  both  in  Kief 
and  in  the  provinces  round  about  our  city.  He  and 
others  serving  in  military  capacities,  he  continued, 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  political  side  of 
the  Ukrainian  movement  and  would  merely  be  de- 
fending the  country  from  the  anarchy  rampant  to 
the  north  and  east.  "At  any  rate,  Austrian  or  not, 
this  is  the  most  conservative  effort  on  foot.  I  mean 
to  work  with  it,  and,  if  I  can,  keep  our  provinces 
quiet  till  I  see  what  the  future  has  in  store."  "It 
will  be  the  Germans'  arrival  very  shortly,"  he  was 
told.  "They  may  delay  a  few  weeks  or  months, 
because  they  know  their  allies,  the  Austrians,  are 
in  possession  here,  so  they  can  afford,  in  complete 
security,  to  go  on  with  their  organization  elsewhere ; 
but  soon  they  mean  to  come  in  here,  and  to  feed  on 
us  later,  and  what  will  you  do  then  ? "  Skoropadsky 
laughed  rather  shortly  and  answered  that  he  meant 
to  work  with  these  also,  on  certain  conditions !  If 
the  Germans  came  into  an  orderly  and  well-policed 
part  of  Russia,  which  was  near  enough  their  own 
doors  to  be  dangerous  in  a  chaotic  condition  or 
through  its  bad  principles  of  government,  they  would 
be  glad  enough  to  make  terms  with  any  conser- 
vative elements  who  might  be  ready  to  negotiate. 
He,  Skoropadsky,  meant  to  hold  on,  therefore,  even 


THE  UKRAINIAN  MOVEMENT  187 

with  the  Germans,  to  a  certain  extent,  and  to  bar- 
gain. He  said  he  felt  sure  many  of  the  nobility 
would  support  him  and  be  glad  to  uphold  his  policy 
in  exchange  for  the  security  he  could  offer  them. 
He  was  perfectly  cool  and  decided,  and  since  that 
day  when,  for  the  last  time,  my  husband  and  he 
spoke  openly  to  one  another  and  disagreed  (as  to 
the  Russian  aristocrat's  duty  in  the  movement),  the 
Hetman  Skoropadsky  never  for  a  single  moment 
abandoned  the  course  he  had  set  himself.  He 
gathered  and  drilled  troops,  who  served  under  him 
the  Ukrainian  (Austrian  inspired)  Rada.  They  were 
unable  to  do  much  in  the  way  of  real  work,  because 
all  these  men  were  undisciplined  and  refused  to 
obey  his  orders  about  half  the  time.  Often,  when  a 
small  unit  was  sent  to  protect  some  factory,  chateau, 
or  other  property,  the  soldiers  out  of  hand  joined 
with  the  mobs  in  sacking,  stealing,  and  destroying. 
In  Kief  itself,  however,  a  fair  appearance  was  kept 
up.  The  "National  Army"  paraded  sometimes  or 
occasionally  did  light  duty  as  sentinels,  but  they  did 
not  prevent  one  or  two  uprisings  which  were  more 
bloody  than  anything  before  their  day  had  ever 
been.  The  worst  of  these  occurred  in  January,  1918, 
when,  for  two  weeks  or  so,  the  city  was  bombarded 
and  suffered  every  misery  imaginable.  One  family 
we  knew  sat  in  an  underground  cellar  then  for 
eleven  days  and  nights,  without  comforts  of  any 
kind,  with  no  possibility  of  bathing  or  redressing, 
and  without  food  other  than  was  brought  to  them 
by  a  devoted  old  man-servant,  who  risked  his  life 


188  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

twice  daily  to  feed  his  masters.  Grandmother, 
parents,  and  several  small  children,  with  all  the 
household's  domestics,  lived  through  the  siege  in 
this  way;  but  in  many  other  cases  a  grenade,  a 
bomb,  or  a  shell  came  and  found  out  hiding,  miser- 
able humanity.  Casualties  occurred  also  on  the 
streets  in  great  numbers  among  those  whom  hunger 
or  other  necessity  forced  out  of  doors  on  short  trips 
about  the  town,  and,  as  usual,  the  martyred  officers 
made  up  a  formidable  company.  The  young  cadets 
who  were  known  to  have  defended  the  provisional 
authority  in  the  previous  November  against  the 
Ukrainians  and  Bolsheviki  were  massacred  without 
mercy.  Every  officer  was,  of  course,  suspected  of 
sympathizing  with  the  "Russian"  cause,  and  hun- 
dreds of  these  were  captured,  tortured,  and  shot  as 
"counter-revolutionists."  One  boy,  whom  we  had 
known  from  infancy,  barely  eighteen  and  just  pro- 
moted to  his  officer's  epaulets  within  a  year,  was 
shot  in  broad  daylight  as  he  left  his  aunt's  house 
for  the  street ;  a  rough,  who  had  been  waiting,  stepped 
suddenly  in  front  of  him  in  the  doorway,  and,  putting 
a  revolver  to  his  victim's  eyes  he  fired  instantly  and 
without  parley.  There  were  many  other  such  cases ; 
about  twenty  or  more  of  our  personal  friends  were 
killed  under  practically  these  same  conditions, 
merely  for  being  in  their  uniforms  and  because  of 
inferred  antipathy  to  the  "national"  movement. 
There  were  no  judgments  in  any  cases  I  heard  of, 
and  altogether  about  two  thousand  five  hundred 
officers  were  executed  in  Kief  during  that  one  up- 


THE  UKRAINIAN  MOVEMENT  189 

rising,  with  the  Hetman  Skoropadsky  commanding 
the  Ukrainian  army  there !  Several  women  friends 
and  acquaintances  of  ours  were  also  wounded  or 
killed  in  the  streets  "by  accident."  Naturally,  all 
who  could  arrange  to  do  so,  fled  elsewhere.  Enemy 
spies  filled  the  town  and  ordered  all  things  as  they 
chose.  There  were  many  anxieties  and  dramas  in 
the  lives  of  the  ordinary  inhabitants  as  well  as  of 
the  refugee  nobility  of  Kief.  Small  wonder  some 
of  them  fell  into  line  behind  the  Hetman,  hoping  to 
save  whatever  they  could  of  their  fast-diminishing 
fortunes  and  also  the  lives  of  those  who  were  dear 
to  them.  Help  came  from  no  other  quarter,  and 
the  Ukrainian-Austrian-German  authorities  repre- 
sented the  only  possible  chance  of  safety.  A  lot  of 
Russian  aristocrats  held  out  against  the  new  regime, 
had  the  courage  to  live  on  in  Kief  through  these 
months,  hoping  against  hope  something  would  occur 
to  succor  them,  yet  dreading  their  surroundings  and 
making  themselves  as  small  as  possible.  These  paid 
heavily  (in  taxes,  by  bribes,  and  in  all  prices  of 
necessities)  merely  to  live  unmolested,  however 
poorly,  in  their  homes.  Their  houses  were  used  as 
billets  for  arrogant,  uncouth  members  of  the  local 
army.  They  were  subjected  to  constant  requisi- 
tions; they  were  allowed  no  arms,  nor  defense  of 
any  kind,  and  their  days  and  nights  were  made  hid- 
eous in  a  thousand  ways;  but  they  stood  firmly, 
nevertheless,  by  their  ideals,  bowed  down  to  no 
foreign  mastership,  and  had  only  such  commerce 
with  the  enemy  as  was  necessary  with  reference  to 


190  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

payments,  reclamations,  passports,  and  such  other 
business.  During  this  time  Skoropadsky  played 
well  his  chosen  r61e,  was  seen  moving  in  state  about 
the  city,  looked  imposing  in  his  full  uniform  and 
fine  motors,  and  did  all  he  could  to  capture  and  hold 
the  imagination  of  the  populace,  with  whom  he  suc- 
ceeded, at  least  in  so  far  as  to  deter  them  from  actual 
revolt.  He  had  a  large  number  of  troops  and  kept 
them  generally  at  work,  which  they  enjoyed,  so 
that  they  were  ready  enough  on  occasion  to  prevent 
rioting  by  mobs,  since  they  themselves  were  satis- 
fied, fed,  clothed,  and  kept  out  of  danger.  They 
"policed'*  the  town,  and  it  remained  comparatively 
quiet.  They  were  always  glad  to  make  foraging  ex- 
peditions and  to  bring  supplies  back  from  the  coun- 
try districts  for  the  citizens'  use.  The  city  populace 
was  a  good-natured,  gay  lot,  in  general,  too,  and, 
though  of  late  it  had  felt  certain  discomforts  of  the 
times,  it  never  knew  the  terrible  sufferings  of  the 
northern  metropolis.  The  people  danced  and  sang 
on,  therefore,  and  declared  their  perfect  indiffer- 
ence as  to  the  name  or  variety  of  any  power 
which  reigned  over  them.  Glad  of  an  excuse  for 
noise  and  excitement,  they  now  and  then,  of  course, 
lost  their  heads  in  some  demonstration  and  demol- 
ished a  building  or  broke  into  a  shop.  So  it  was  the 
Ukrainians  received  the  Germans,  and  later  the 
Bolsheviki,  with  a  festival  of  bloodshed.  The 
factory  districts  were  full  of  idlers  and  ne'er-do- 
wells  who  were  producing  little  or  nothing.  Most 
of  the  machinery  and  buildings  had  been  injured 


THE  UKRAINIAN  MOVEMENT  191 

or  destroyed,  while  the  owners,  managers,  foremen, 
and  experts  had  nearly  all  fled  or  had  been  killed. 
It  seemed  useless  to  resist  the  current,  and  the  fac- 
tory hands  or  their  committees  were  completely  in 
the  saddle.  The  roughest  elements  turned  burglars 
or  pickpockets,  and  crimes  on  the  street  or  in  iso- 
lated houses  were  of  continual  occurrence.  In  the 
villages  round  about  great  animosity  was  felt  against 
Kief,  the  city  which  was  requisitioning  provisions, 
grain,  and  produce  of  every  description.  The  peas- 
antry were  violent  in  their  hatred  of  the  new  system, 
which  they  considered  both  unjust  and  unpleasant. 
Occasionally  one  heard  of  a  foraging  party  disap- 
pearing totally,  murdered,  it  was  supposed;  and  it 
was  well  known  that  peasants  were  still  hoarding 
some  part  of  their  meagre  supplies,  and  were  con- 
stantly ready  to  revolt  if  only  they  could  feel  them- 
selves of  sufficient  strength  to  stand  up  for  their 
rights.  They  needed  supplies  from  the  towns  and 
factories,  and  they  offered  to  make  trades,  but  such 
arrangements  were  refused,  and  only  an  armed 
peace  existed  between  the  urban  and  country  "com- 
rades," a  truce  which  frequently  broke  down. 

During  the  time,  Skoropadsky  was  the  represen- 
tative figurehead  of  the  Ukrainian  Government  in 
all  military  matters  and  seemed  to  indicate  to  a 
certain  extent  the  nobility's  concurrence  in  the 
"national"  movement;  the  civilian  first  r61e  was  be- 
ing played  by  a  man  named  Petlura.  He  was  of  the 
peasantry  or  of  the  lower  ranks  in  the  bureaucracy, 
had  been  one  of  the  uniformed  scribes  in  a  govern- 


RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

ment  office  at  Kief,  and  had  been  mobilized  for  duty 
during  the  war  for  a  staff  bureau  there,  because  the 
mobilization  officers  had  judged  he  would  be  of  more 
use  to  his  country  with  his  pen  than  with  a  gun. 
So  all  the  early  years  of  the  war  he  had  sat  mak- 
ing out  despatches,  or  writing  low-class  copy.  ... 
Certainly  no  one  had  ever  suspected  him  of  having 
ideas !  He  was  considered  merely  an  arm  with  a 
pen.  ...  In  the  revolution  he  became  excitable  and 
less  efficient,  and  attracted  attention  early  through 
his  extreme  speeches  and  by  the  noise  about  him. 
Soon  he  was  forming  a  group  of  personal  partisans, 
then  he  showed  cunning,  considerable  strength,  and 
was  mixed  up  in  various  agitations;  finally  he  was 
imprisoned  by  order  of  the  central  provisional  gov- 
ernment during  Kerensky's  premiership,  and  was 
judged,  acquitted,  and  then  liberated,  while  a  large 
mob  cheered  themselves  half  mad  outside  the 
courts.  This  mob  carried  him  away  above  their 
heads  to  his  lodging,  giving  him  a  triumphal  proces- 
sion. He  became  an  enthusiastic  "Ukrainian,"  and 
was  soon  the  head  of  the  "nationalists"  and  their 
idol.  Perfectly  unscrupulous,  extremely  adroit,  well 
paid  by  the  Austrians,  having  nothing  to  lose  and 
all  to  gain,  he  developed  tremendously,  and  ended 
by  holding  his  own  even  with  Skoropadsky  and  also 
against  all  other  would-be  leaders.  He  kept  in  the 
saddle  and  is  still  in  power  now  with  his  own  crowd, 
for  I  read  quite  recently  in  an  American  paper  he 
was  leading  the  Ukrainian  armies  against  Lemberg. 
But  in  early  1918,  Petlura  and  Skoropadsky, 


THE  UKRAINIAN  MOVEMENT  193 

hand  in  hand,  stood  together  awaiting  the  arrival 
and  orders  of  their  German  masters.  The  latter 
came,  and  after  the  feeblest  show  of  resistance,  the 
conquerors  were  admitted  to  Kief  and  were  re- 
ceived officially  by  the  "nationalists"  with  all 
ostensible  honors.  To  give  the  devil  his  due,  Skoro- 
padsky's  army,  of  course,  could  not  have  resisted  the 
triumphant  troops  of  Von  Eichhorn,  as  the  Ukrai- 
nians were  a  vague  and  unarmed  horde  of  uni- 
formed picnickers.  Petlura  was  not  heard  from 
during  German  occupation,  whether  because  he  was 
paid  to  subside  into  insignificance,  or  because  he 
was  frightened  into  a  secondary  place;  but  the  Het- 
man  of  the  Cossacks,  General  Skoropadsky,  ex- 
aide-de-camp  of  the  Czar,  was  a  rare  friend  for  the 
Huns,  and  he  was  petted  and  spoiled,  and  was  made 
much  of.  He  did  make  a  good  bargain  both  for 
himself  and  for  his  class.  As  he  had  foreseen,  the 
German  conquerors  thought  the  opportunity  excel- 
lent to  win  the  aristocracy  over  to  Teutonic  "Kul- 
tur."  Skoropadsky  drove  about  in  Von  Eichhorn 's 
motor,  held  receptions  and  parades,  gave  his  new 
chief  valuable  advice  and  information  as  to  admin- 
istrative measures  he  considered  the  dictator  should 
take.  He  obtained  (by  German  consent  and  en- 
forcement) for  all  proprietors  of  landed  estates  offi- 
cial and  legal  admissions  from  the  peasantry  that  the 
latter  had  lately  stolen  goods  and  land  not  theirs  by 
law,  which  must  be  restored  to  the  proper  owners 
again  or  must  be  paid  for,  especially  when  there 
had  been  destruction.  Of  these  sums  paid  by  the 


194  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

peasantry  much  of  the  money  \#ent  to  the  Ger- 
mans, but  thirty  per  cent  really  went  to  the  old 
proprietors  (or  in  their  absence  was  paid  into  a 
Kief  bank  in  trust  for  them).  The  peasants  were 
whipped  and  made  to  work  in  field  and  factory 
again  and  to  hand  over  what  grain  they  possessed 
for  the  use  of  Kief,  but  also  and  mainly  for  that  of 
the  German  soldiers.  Upon  resistance  several  vil- 
lages were  gassed,  and  all  the  inhabitants  left  dead ! 
The  helpless  country  population  now  staggered  on  a 
weary  road  of  abject  slavery,  privation,  and  punish- 
ment. In  the  towns  it  was  the  same;  banks  were 
kept  open,  business  was  done;  the  factories  smoked 
again,  and  they  turned  out  goods  rapidly;  the  shops 
were  encouraged  to  resume  their  ordinary  aspect, 
and  counters  and  windows  were  flooded  with  Ger- 
man goods,  which,  after  the  long  lack  of  them,  were 
bought  up  with  avidity.  Whatever  scruples  they 
had,  it  was  reassuring  to  the  upper  classes  to  sleep 
quietly  in  their  beds  for  a  time  again  and  to  see 
their  lives  and  property  respected,  to  regain  their 
lands  and  factories,  and  start  working  or  selling. 
They  were  living,  in  a  word,  under  what  seemed 
almost  normal  conditions,  and,  even  if  they  owed  it 
to  their  worst  enemy  and  knew  the  day  must  come 
when  the  iron  grip  relaxed  the  whole  edifice  would 
tumble  in  a  heap,  they  were  glad  of  a  breathing 
space  of  calm  and  prosperity.  The  poor  man  felt, 
however,  at  this  time,  he  was  arrayed  against  the 
landed  proprietors  and  the  capitalists  of  his  own 
race,  who  were  in  league  with  the  Huns  and  who 


THE  UKRAINIAN  MOVEMENT  195 

were  using  the*  latter's  force  to  crush  him,  the 
"moujik."  It  was  a  bad  situation,  and  it  promised 
worse  ruins  for  the  future. 

Skoropadsky  was  invited  to  join  the  German 
Emperor  at  the  latter's  Grand  Staff  Headquarters, 
and  accepted,  and  there  his  triumph  continued.  He 
was  courted  and  praised,  and  a  photograph  was 
circulated  about,  showing  him  and  William  deep  in 
conversation  and  smiling  at  one  another.  I  fancy 
this  one  man  was  the  only  Russian  perfectly  under- 
stood and  appreciated  by  the  German  mentality. 
Anyhow,  his  honors  at  the  conqueror's  hands  lasted 
till  the  end,  and  though  he  saw  Von  Eichhorn  assas- 
sinated, he  lived  on  for  some  time  before  his  own 
turn  came  (late  in  the  autumn  of  1918).  It  is  told 
among  Russians  that  Skoropadsky  was  not  assassi- 
nated at  all,  but  that  seeing  his  game  was  up  he 
spread  the  report  of  his  own  murder  and  decamped 
with  the  Germans  when  they  retired  officially  from 
Kief. 

The  fact  that  comparative  quiet  and  prosperity 
reigned  in  the  Ukrainian  provinces  aroused  the 
envy  of  the  rabid  and  starving  Bolsheviki  to  the 
north  and  east.  Their  cities,  like  their  country 
districts,  were  already  squeezed  dry  of  possible 
plunder  by  the  Huns  who  occupied  them,  and  their 
chances  of  recuperation  were  destroyed  by  the  an- 
archy these  tyrants  had  inspired  and  encouraged. 
Hordes  of  northern  rabble  were  ready  to  overrun 
their  own  frontiers,  driven  by  frantic  misery  and 
dread  of  the  bloody  terror  they  had  lived  in  for 


196  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

months  past.  The  climate  and  riches  of  the  south 
seemed  still  sufficiently  tempting,  and  after  the 
Germans'  official  withdrawal  from  the  Ukraine,  the 
strength  of  the  local  administration  became  insuffi- 
cient to  hold  back  an  invasion.  From  time  to  time, 
therefore,  waves  of  dilapidated  humanity  overflowed 
toward  the  south,  and  though  the  Teutons  sent  out 
such  soldiers  as  were  still  left  in  the  province  to  stiff  en 
the  Ukrainian  national  armies,  these  were  not  always 
able  to  hold  back  onslaughts.  Various  cities  on  the 
frontiers  of  Little-Russia  were  taken  by  the  red 
guardsmen  and  were  sacked.  Many  chateaux  and 
villages  disappeared  completely,  and  in  some  of 
the  latter  the  worn-out  peasantry,  glad  to  change 
one  misfortune  for  another,  if  only  by  way  of  vari- 
ety, joined  the  new  conqueror's  movement  which 
attacked  their  own  home-land.  Twice  the  gates  of 
Kief  were  reached  by  the  Bolsheviki:  once  the  city 
was  bombarded  and  the  army  of  reds  repulsed; 
the  other  time  they  entered  and  held  sway  in  the 
city  by  force  of  terrorism,  till  finally  through  ruse 
they  were  persuaded  to  leave.  After  Von  Eichhorn's 
murder,  and  the  reported  murder  of  Skoropadsky, 
Petlura  remained  alone  and  took  supreme  com- 
mand. In  order  to  draw  to  his  standard  the  most 
radical  classes,  whom  he  feared  might  join  the  Bol- 
sheviki, he  inclined  his  own  policies  more  and  more 
toward  Bolshevism.  By  so  doing  Petlura's  party 
principles  became  almost  identical  with  the  reds, 
and  the  chaos  in  Kief  increased.  The  leader  kept 
to  the  name  of  a  separate  government,  however, 


THE  UKRAINIAN  MOVEMENT  197 

and  remained  independent  himself  of  Trotzky  and 
Lenine. 

With  Von  Eichhorn's  murder  the  German  power 
officially  came  to  an  end  and  many  of  the  Hun 
troops  were  withdrawn  from  the  Ukraine.  This 
fact  and  Skoropadsky's  disappearance  meant  for  the 
few  conservatives,  who  had  backed  this  false  au- 
thority for  a  time,  the  utter  failure  of  their  last 
hopes.  Either  they  must  fly  now,  or  be  killed 
eventually  and  meantime  live  in  abject  fear.  Since 
months  back  this  had  been  the  fate  of  all  the  better 
classes,  both  in  Moscow  and  Petrograd,  while  of 
course  there  came  a  great  reaction  after  the  repres- 
sions of  the  German  dictatorship.  Though  anxiety 
and  uncertainty  were  terrible  trials,  life  was  still  pos- 
sible in  Kief,  until  early  January,  1919.  At  the  very 
beginning  of  that  month  (the  2oth  of  December,  1918, 
Russian  style),  the  " Council  of  the  Country  Dis- 
tricts and  Municipalities"  was  formed  in  Kief.  The 
ultraradical  groups  were  therein  represented  by 
large  majorities,  and  the  council  or  congress  passed 
the  following  resolution: 

"The  Congress  of  Country  Districts  and  Munici- 
palities finds  the  settlement  of  a  ruling  power  for 
the  Ukraine  is  most  urgent,  and  that  it  should  be 
decided  immediately,  because  of  the  revolts  taking 
place  all  over  our  land.  Under  the  dictatorship 
there  has  been  much  commotion,  with  some  move- 
ments which  were  truly  democratic,  as  well  as 
many  which  were  only  in  favor  of  absolute  anarchy, 
or  were  made  with  an  intention  of  breaking  away 


198  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

and  forming  small  independent  states.  The  Het- 
man's  government,  set  up  and  supported  by  im- 
perial Germany,  has  only  deepened  the  rupture  be- 
tween the  Ukraine  and  Russia,  and  has  allowed  our 
people  to  be  cruelly  exploited  by  the  foreign  armies 
of  occupation.  Being  rejected  by  all  democratic 
elements,  this  government  was  maintained  by  the 
most  reactionary  and  monarchical  group,  and  it  un- 
dertook violent  repression  of  our  peasants  and  work- 
men. In  the  interests  of  the  Ukraine,  this  power 
must  now  be  replaced  by  a  purely  democratic  one. 
The  civil  war  raging  in  our  country  is  a  great  danger 
to  all  the  south  of  Russia.  It  can  but  lead  to  the 
triumph  of  Bolshevism  or  to  a  reaction  toward 
monarchy. 

"This  Congress  supposes  the  continuation  and  re- 
inforcement of  civil  war  parties  in  the  Ukraine  can 
be  prevented  only  by  means  of  the  establishment  of 
a  democratic  government,  which  would  be  ready  to 
enter  into  open  agreement  with  all  groups,  classes, 
and  nationalities  in  the  social  scale.  Only  such  a 
government  can  put  an  end  to  the  hard  consequences 
of  the  Hetman's  regime  and  abolish  civil  war.  It 
will  also  thoroughly  guarantee  the  national  interests 
of  Ukraine,  and  the  latter's  union  with  Russia  may 
possibly  later  be  renewed.*' 

As  I  read  this,  it  seems  vague  enough  as  to  its 
promises  of  present  or  future  usefulness.  The  only 
thing  it  really  has  proved  is  the  fact  that  by  all 
parties  at  Kief,  the  nationalists'  movement,  in 
spite  of  two  Russian  figureheads  (Skoropadsky 


THE  UKRAINIAN  MOVEMENT  199 

and  Petlura),  was  acknowledged  to  be  a  German 
intrigue. 

An  article  in  a  Bolshevist  newspaper  says  at  about 
the  same  date: 

"The  current  of  Bolshevism  has  now  passed  be- 
yond the  limits  of  the  Soviets  in  Great  Russia,  and 
overflows  into  the  territory  of  the  Ukraine.  The 
provisional  government  of  the  peasants  and  work- 
men, therefore,  make  the  following  appeal: 

"The  members  of  the  Central  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  Ukrainian  Soviets,  in  complete  accord 
with  the  revolutionary  workmen,  peasants,  and  sol- 
diers of  the  Bolsheviki,  are  now  at  the  head  of  the 
communistic  Bolsheviki  provisional  government  of 
the  workmen  and  peasants  of  the  Ukraine ! 

"All  factories,  materials,  banks,  trade-establish- 
ments, mines,  and  quarries  are  declared  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  working  people,  and  are  forfeited  by 
their  present  owners.  All  lands,  with  inventories  of 
their  contents  in  buildings  and  implementation, 
must  also  be  taken  from  the  proprietors,  definitely 
and  finally,  and  given  gratis  to  the  peasantry. 

"In  these  measures  the  revolution  advances  with 
strong  and  formidable  steps  in  its  steady  march 
onward!" 

Shortly  after  this  was  published  it  was  announced 
that  the  Ukrainian  Government,  with  Petlura  at  its 
head,  was  officially  recognized  by  the  United  States 
Administration,  and  I  personally  read  an  official 
telegram,  published  in  the  press  here  in  America,  in 
which  the  State  Department  at  Washington  made 


200  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

this  announcement  at  the  moment  when  Bolsheviki 
and  Ukrainians  were  joining  one  another ! 

The  chaos  of  the  north  seems  to  have  reached 
out  now  through  the  Ukraine  into  Galicia,  Poland, 
and  even  Hungary,  where  civil  war  and  anarchy  are 
devouring  the  last  signs  of  law  and  order.  Com- 
munications have  been  cut  off  entirely  from  Kief, 
and  the  last  of  the  nobility  who  could  escape  have 
done  so,  abandoning  their  estates,  which  it  seemed 
scarcely  worth  worrying  over,  as  these  were  almost 
non-existing.  Ours  among  others  have,  of  course, 
been  reconfiscated. 

A  last  press  sheet  has  come  into  my  hands,  sent 
by  a  kindly  compatriot  refugee  in  the  Crimea.  It 
contains  a  description  of  most  recent  occurrences  in 
the  Ukraine: 

''Events  here  are  alarming  and  important  in  the 
highest  degree.  The  south  has  been  now  entirely 
separated  from  the  Ukraine,  which  has  proclaimed 
its  complete  independence,  and  as  a  republic  has 
set  up  a  new  government. 

"  After  the  first  revolution,  March,  191 7,  a  Hetman 
was  established  by  the  vote  of  certain  reactionary 
landowners,  and  was  maintained  by  German  troops 
in  the  face  of  all  attacks.  Now  that  the  Ger- 
mans are  no  longer  mixed  in  the  fight,  renewed 
excesses  have  broken  out,  the  revolt  against  the 
Hetman  provoking  a  civil  war  between  his  troops 
and  Petlura's.  The  latter  has  with  great  au- 
dacity established  a  Bolshevik  republic.  Petlura 
is  admittedly  a  partisan  (though  insisting  on  inde- 


THE  UKRAINIAN  MOVEMENT  201 

pendent  authority)  of  the  northern  Bolsheviki,  and 
this  is  why  the  latter  are  at  present  moving  toward 
Kharkoff.  If  the  two  armies  should  succeed  in 
fusing  at  this  point,  we  shall  see  a  new  disaster 
threatening  all  the  south  of  Russia.  The  railroad's 
administration  furnishes  us  with  the  information 
that  an  invasion  of  the  Ukraine  by  Moscow's  red 
armies  is  inevitable,  and  that  in  a  few  days  Khar- 
koff will  be  in  their  hands.  The  few  German  troops 
left  in  the  Ukraine  will  offer  no  resistance,  of  course, 
nor  protection  in  this  movement,  neither  would  the 
remnants  of  the  Hetman's  nationalists  be  of  the 
least  support  to  any  good  elements  among  the  local 
authorities,  who  might  try  to  preserve  law  and  order. 
Lacking  sufficient  resistance,  the  Bolshevist  effort 
will  probably  be  crowned  with  complete  success." 

Unless  some  succor  comes  from  outside  to  aid 
the  D6nikin  army,  one  can  count  on  the  proba- 
bility of  the  whole  of  southern  Russia  going  up  in 
flames,  such  as  have  already  wrecked  the  north  of 
the  empire,  and  as  are  now  destroying  our  Ukrai- 
nian provinces ! l 

In  this  maelstrom  the  refugees  in  and  about  lassy 
(Rumania)  will  also  necessarily  be  caught,  after 
their  long  and  patient  wait  for  deliverance !  They 
must  feel,  if  they  are  still  alive,  that  they  have  been 
abandoned  and  forgotten  by  all  of  civilization.  At 
the  end  of  December  last,  when  the  Allied  fleet 

Reports  within  the  last  week  of  April,  1919,  would  seem  to  show 
that  Petlura  has  changed  his  politics  and  is  now  fighting  the  Bol- 
shevik invasion  with  some  success. 


202  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

dropped  anchor  in  the  harbor  of  Sebastopol,  a  mes- 
sage was  delivered  to  them  immediately  from  the 
members  of  the  lassy  conference.  It  had  been 
written  on  November  17,  1918,  and  in  part  it  said: 

"The  conference  of  lassy,  which  includes  rep- 
resentatives of  every  political  party,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  extreme  right  and  left  (autocratic- 
monarchists  and  Bolsheviki),  before  attacking  ques- 
tions of  business  have  the  honor  of  welcoming  their 
allies! 

"Our  delegation  is  to  communicate  at  once  to 
the  Allies  the  following  facts  of  great  importance: 
the  south  of  Russia  is  traversing  a  very  painful 
transition  period,  while  the  weakness  of  local  au- 
thorities (which  is  the  direct  result  of  the  German 
policy  and  occupation)  promises  the  inhabitants  a 
bloody  future,  if  the  solution  of  its  problems  are 
deferred.  Only  the  instantaneous  military  inter- 
vention of  the  Allies  could  now  prevent  the  uprising 
of  the  extreme  chauvinist  groups,  who  would  lead 
the  country  into  anarchy  and  Bolshevism,  and  would 
finally  abolish  all  possibility  of  the  Allies  attaining 
later  even  a  necessary  base  of  operation  against  the 
authority  of  the  Soviets. 

"To  encourage  the  only  Russian  army  (D6ni- 
kin's)  capable  of  organized  resistance  in  these 
parts,  the  assurance  of  prompt  support  from  the 
Allies  is  indispensable.  While  awaiting  the  moment 
when  a  considerable  unit  of  troops  could  be  sent  us, 
a  certain  number  of  Allied  ships  appearing  in  the 
ports  of  the  Black  Sea,  with  a  few  detachments  of 


THE  UKRAINIAN  MOVEMENT  203 

soldiers  in  the  large  cities  and  at  strategical  points 
on  the  railroads,  would  suffice  to  keep  up  hope  and 
to  limit  the  action  of  anarchy.  This  preliminary 
demonstration  should  necessarily  occur  within  a 
few  days." 

The  French  and  British  fleets  arrived  in  Sebas- 
topol  about  six  weeks  after  this  message  had  been 
written,  and  received  it  at  the  same  time  as  the  fol- 
lowing one;  the  two  being  printed  together  in  one 
(French)  bulletin  for  their  perusal: 

Dated  lassy,  November  the  igth,  1918. 

"In  supplement  to  the  message  sent  three  days 
ago,  we  add  this  further  information,  which  we  con- 
sider it  indispensable  to  communicate  to  you,  our 
Allies. 

"i.  The  chauvinist  elements  of  the  Ukraine  have 
now  organized,  in  the  environs  of  Kief,  a  revolt  in 
which,  besides  the  independents,  a  large  number  of 
anarchists  and  Bolsheviki  are  taking  part. 

"2.  This  revolt  is  all  the  more  dangerous,  as  the 
conservative  Austro-German  units  of  soldiery  are 
breaking  up,  and  are  no  longer  offering  any  resistance 
to  the  invasion  of  Bolsheviki  from  the  north. 

"3.  Such  an  offensive  means  the  immediate  rup- 
ture of  all  lines  of  communication  between  the 
Ukraine  and  the  Don  River,  and  in  this  case  the 
Donetz  region,  with  its  great  coal-mines  (owned 
mainly  by  French  capitalists),  would  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  Bolsheviki,  giving  them  sufficient 
provisions  of  fuel  to  run  industries  and  railroads  for 
their  own  and  German  benefit. 


204  KUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

"It  would  seem,  therefore,  indispensable  to  take 
the  following  measures: 

"i.  Hasten  the  descent  of  Allied  troops,  in  what- 
ever numbers  possible,  at  Odessa,  and  occupy  im- 
mediately Kharkoff  and  Kief. 

"2.  Publish  a  clear  and  determined  proclamation 
of  the  Allies'  decision  to  uphold  these  elements  of 
law  and  order. 

"3.  Warn  the  German  Government  that  the 
Allies  will  hold  the  enemy's  army  responsible  for  all 
riots  in  which  it  takes  part,  whether  by  distributing 
arms  and  ammunition,  or  in  forbidding  to  Russian 
officers'  organizations  (which,  in  the  face  of  danger, 
show  themselves  still  ready  to  defend  law  and  order) 
access  to  the  depots  of  arms  and  ammunition  which 
are  still  in  the  hands  of  the  German  troops! 

11  In  case  such  dispositions  are  not  taken  immedi- 
ately, and  intervention  by  the  Allies  not  carried  out 
at  present,  it  will  probably  require  later  a  greater 
sized  army  and  military  operations  of  much  longer 
duration  to  establish  quiet." 

Early  in  January  these  two  messages  reached  the 
Allies'  hands,  and  the  reply  has  been  surprising! 
It  has  consisted  of  the  recognition  of  Petlura's  re- 
public by  at  least  one  of  the  Allied  governments, 
and  by  the  stoppage  of  any  further  effort  to  uphold 
the  struggling  groups  in  the  right-minded  south 
once  the  English  fleet  of  a  few  ships  was  anchored 
at  Sebastopol  and  after  the  French  had  entered  the 
port  of  Odessa ! 

In  consequence  of  all  this  hesitation,  during  the 


THE  UKRAINIAN  MOVEMENT  205 

past  few  days  we  have  read  of  the  evacuation  of  the 
latter  city,  and  its  probable  surrender  to  the  attack- 
ing Bolsheviki,  together  with  all  its  riches  in  provi- 
sions; of  the  capture  of  KharkofT  and  other  cities  in 
those  parts,  by  the  combined  Ukrainian  and  Red 
Guard  armies;  of  the  cutting  off  of  Rumania,  the 
attack  of  Petlura  on  western  cities,  the  uprising  in 
Hungary,  and  the  general  offering  of  the  richest  por- 
tion of  eastern  Europe  to  the  powers  of  darkness ! l 

1  Since  this  article  was  written  it  would  seem  that  Petlura  has  de- 
fied the  Bolshevists,  and  that  the  Allies  have  decided  to  recognize 
and  uphold  with  supplies  the  Denikin  and  Crimean  movements. 


VI 

THE  NEW  RUSSIAN  VIEW 

OUITE  recently,  in  their  patriotic  desire  and 
effort  to  save  a  great  cause,  the  various 
Russian  elements  in  Paris  have  joined  hands 
and  formed  a  small  " Junta"  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
Peace  Conference.  It  consists  of  four  committees. 
Men  of  all  shades  of  opinion  (from  the  Liberals  of 
the  old,  autocratic  regime  to  ex-members  of  K6ren- 
sky's  last,  and  most  Socialistic,  cabinets)  have  gone 
into  each  of  these  committees  whole-heartedly. 
There  is  no  one  who  favors  the  re-establishment  of 
an  autocracy,  however,  and  no  single  Bolshevik. 
All  Russians,  the  members  sitting  side  by  side,  are 
content  to  have  reached  among  themselves  an  un- 
derstanding; and  feeling  ready  to  make  any  conces- 
sions of  their  personal  opinions  for  the  general  good 
of  their  country,  they  really  amalgamate. 

On  the  political  committee's  list  figures  many  a 
great  name  of  ancient  Russia,  with  at  least  one 
which  was  of  fiery  prominence  in  a  successful  nihilist 
assassination  plot  about  fifteen  years  ago. 

After  pulling  in  different  directions  for  so  long,  as 
long  a  time  as  the  revolution  has  lasted,  Russia  had 
become  a  tower  of  Babel,  incomprehensible  to  out- 
siders or  to  itself.  An  American,  who  met  a  number 

206 


THE  NEW  RUSSIAN  VIEW  207 

of  my  compatriots  as  they  arrived  in  Paris  to  rep- 
resent the  north,  south,  east,  and  west  of  our  home 
country,  said  to  me  that  each  deputation  came  with 
a  special  intention,  apparently,  of  telling  the  Allies 
about  its  own  plan  for  saving  Russia,  which  must  be 
followed  exactly  and  to  the  exclusion  of  any  other 
recommended  by  parties  previously  on  the  spot ! 
No  one  of  these  delegations  ever  represented  any 
official  group  which  had  accomplished  anything; 
and  each  was  accredited  merely  by  themselves  to 
uphold  their  own  ideas. 

Recently,  quite  suddenly,  practical  common  sense 
and  persuasive  powers  seemed  to  have  grown  up 
among  the  scattered  elements,  and  rivalries  have 
been  reconciled.  Still  officially  unrecognized  by  the 
Allies,  these  Russians  have  organized  three  other 
commissions  besides  their  political  committee,  pre- 
sided over  by  Prince  Lvoff,  who  was  Prime  Minister 
of  the  first  revolutionary  government.  A  military 
commission  is  presided  over  by  General  Tcherbatch- 
off,  who  commanded  the  Russian  armies  on  the 
Rumanian  front  in  the  early  years  of  the  war,  when 
he  distinguished  himself  both  as  a  commander  and 
administrator,  and  where  he  kept  his  soldiers  well  in 
hand,  till  long  after  all  other  fronts  had  disintegrated. 
Thirdly,  there  is  a  financial  commission,  presided 
over  by  Monsieur  Raffalovitch,  who  for  many  years 
represented  the  Russian  Ministry  of  Finance  at 
Paris,  and  who  had  a  most  brilliant  reputation  in 
his  domain.  Finally,  there  is  a  commission  for  pro- 
visioning, etc.,  headed  by  Monsieur  TrStiakoff,  one 


208  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

of  Moscow's  vastly  wealthy  merchants.  Since  these 
groups  are  now  divided  up  according  to  their  special 
capacities,  and  not  according  to  the  individual  or 
rival  pretensions,  with  which  they  came  to  Paris, 
they  have  grown  more  comprehensible  to  outsiders 
and  they  promise  to  be  useful.  They  seem  prepared 
for  practical  team-work  when  opportunity  shall  offer ; 
but  when  this  time  will  be  is  still  an  open  question. 
Certain  persons,  members  of  the  group,  in  a  private 
capacity  have  already  attracted  attention  from  the 
great  Allies'  ministers  who  are  in  Paris,  and  these 
men  have  been  called  upon  to  prepare  the  ground 
for  mutual  understanding  and  even  action  on  the  part 
of  Russia  and  her  ex-friends  elsewhere  in  Europe.  It 
is  to  be  hoped  that  before  many  months  have  passed 
ways  and  means  may  be  discovered  for  settling  the 
terrible  problems  of  our  salvage  and  development. 

I  asked  the  most  practical  and  clear-minded  Rus- 
sian I  have  ever  known  what  was  his  idea  as  to  the 
form  a  successful  effort  to  tranquilize  our  home- 
land should  take,  and  I  wrote  down  his  reply,  which 
seemed  to  me  more  promising  than  any  of  the 
numerous  Utopian  plans  I  had  heard  till  then  ex- 
pressed. He  was  on  his  way  to  Paris  at  the  time 
he  spoke,  and  I  found  he  had  in  no  degree  changed 
his  opinion  since  a  day  in  September,  1917,  when  we 
had  first  talked  of  the  probabilities  ahead  of  us: 

"I  begin  by  saying  that,  in  spite  of  the  terrible 
experiences  we  are  traversing,  I  still  keep  a  deep 
faith  in  our  future;  but  I  think  now  that  the  enemy 
is,  at  least  in  part  and  officially,  abandoning  Rus- 


THE  NEW  RUSSIAN  VIEW  209 

sian  territory,  it  is  time  party  and  personal  and  all 
other  small  questions  should  be  laid  aside  and  that 
we  should  all  unite  about  one  single  banner,  bearing 
as  our  motto  merely  that  we  would  save  and  liber- 
ate our  country  from  the  anarchy  and  destruction 
caused  by  Bolshevism.  It  seems  evident  the  Allies 
in  their  own  interests  would  gladly  help  in  this  as 
much  as  they  can,  and  would  feel  obliged  to  let  us 
have  the  implements  and  other  material  help  neces- 
sary for  our  fight.  Perhaps  even  by  occupying  cer- 
tain base  positions  they  would  liberate  our  avail- 
able military  units  for  active  operations.  At  the 
same  time,  I  consider  essential  a  first  move  to  re- 
establish immediately  an  exchange  of  produce  and 
merchandise,  to  organize  transportation  and  com- 
munication with  the  outside  world,  and  to  oblige 
our  people  to  take  up  work  again,  after  the  complete 
pause  which  has  lasted  practically  since  the  revolu- 
tion began.  I  consider  the  fight  for  reconstruction 
must  be  Russian,  and  that  through  our  own  efforts 
we  must  reach  our  redemption.  Whenever  I  say 
this,  my  friends  fall  upon  me  for  not  loving  my 
country  enough  to  wish  for,  and  ask  for  the  intro- 
duction of  foreign  forces  and  riches  which  would 
give  immediate  results;  but  I  am  against  leaning 
too  completely  on  outside  strength,  as  long  as  there 
is  living  strength  in  our  own  race.  I'm  convinced 
we  still  possess  such  vital  forces,  after  observation 
of  the  efforts  of  Denikin  and  others,  with  the  sup- 
port of  the  Crimean  government  behind  them,  and 
there  are  other  local  movements  of  the  same  kind. 


210  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

It  seems  to  me  we  must  gain  our  knowledge  through 
our  sufferings,  and  our  rebirth  must  come  by  our 
own  labor  and  sincere  patriotism.  I  feel  satisfied 
we  can  and  will  work  out  our  salvation  in  perma- 
nent form  finally,  though  we  must  necessarily  go 
slowly  amid  great  difficulties  and  over  very  danger- 
ous ground.  Certainly  we  still  risk  being  swamped 
by  new  waves  of  Bolshevism,  unless  our  Allies  are 
brought  to  see  the  absolute  need  of  giving  us,  the 
liberal  elements  in  Russia,  some  support,  both  moral 
and  material! 

"I  have  always  perseveringly  believed  also  in  the 
immense  good  to  be  obtained  from  a  better  sym- 
pathy between  Russia  and  your  native  country, 
Princess,"  the  speaker  added.  "And  during  all  my 
public  life,  I  have,  as  you  know,  both  advocated 
and  carried  out  a  policy  in  line  with  this  idea,  and 
have  tried  to  establish  closer  relations  with  America 
in  every  department  connected  with  my  specialties. 
I  still  hope  some  day  to  realize  such  a  situation. 
Your  compatriots  are  practical  idealists,  and  I 
think  they  will  agree  with  me  that  it  is  in  the  in- 
terests of  both  countries  if  we  can  manage  to  stretch 
out  our  hands  to  one  another." 

Of  old,  this  thought  seemed  pleasant  even  when 
my  adopted  country  was  still  an  extreme  autocracy 
and  America  represented  all  that  was  divergent  in 
national  aspirations.  Now,  it  seems  a  plan  possible 
to  execute  when  at  last  the  reign  of  terror  shall  be 
over,  and  when  the  new  Russia  will  slowly,  but  neces- 
sarily, emerge  from  the  furnace  in  another  form,  and 


THE  NEW  RUSSIAN  VIEW 

will  be  doubtless  very  democratic.  One  begins  to 
see,  beyond  all  the  present  misery,  the  dawn  of  a 
new  day,  when,  though  much  of  the  old  charm  of 
our  brilliant  traditions  may  be  burned  away  and 
the  fate  of  many  martyrs  must  be  still  a  saddening 
memory,  we  shall  find  strength  to  carry  high  our 
heads  again  and  shall  be  faithful  to  new  principles. 
Many  millions  strong,  only  remembering  we  are  all 
of  one  great  race  in  spite  of  past  divisions  and  bit- 
terness, we  shall  stand  ready  to  work  out  our  sal- 
vation, and  that  of  our  great  land. 

At  present  one  lives  in  an  agony  of  suspense  as 
the  slow  and  contradictory  reports  come,  and  the 
fever  burns  higher  and  higher.  One  hopes  for  the 
best  as  one  hears  or  reads  the  Allied  leaders'  speeches, 
but  one  wonders.  .  .  .  Will  these  dictators  to  the 
world  act  now,  at  last  ?  Will  they  uphold  and 
strengthen  their  great  Slav  brother  in  his  distress  ? 
He  who  so  generously  bled  for  them  all  through  the 
first  part  of  the  war,  and  who  saved  Verdun  and 
Paris  then.  In  its  agony  Russia  calls  for  help,  and 
already  there  have  been  such  vast  losses  and  such 
awful  sufferings  which  better,  quicker  action  might 
have  saved  and  healed. 

Even  at  this  peace  gathering  in  Paris  many  pre- 
cious weeks  have  passed  in  vague  discussion,  with 
nothing  done. 

Meantime  the  enemy  is  on  the  ground,  working 
hard  to  further  his  own  aims — attacking  the  last 
defenses  of  law  and  order.  Will  the  outlaw  win? 
Or  will  succor  come  at  the  eleventh  hour  ?  . 


212  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Please  God,  great  Russia  shall  survive;  and  after 
her  trials  she  will  know  who  her  real  friends  have 
been,  and  will  repay  her  debts  to  such  as  have 
proved  true.  Slavs  can  be  marvellously  grateful,  I 
have  often  noticed,  and  our  country  has  the  riches 
of  Aladdin  to  draw  forth  from  forest,  hill,  and  plain 
for  gifts.  Those  who  look  on  calmly  must  soon 
realize  that  upon  the  fate  of  Russia,  in  this  crisis, 
will  largely  depend  the  future  prosperity  and  peace 
of  the  whole  world.  So  civilization  cannot  afford 
to  turn  away  and  pass  by  on  the  other  side ! 


VII 
KOLCHAK 

A.  I  am  writing  (June,  1919)  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence draws  to  a  close  in  Paris,  and  it  is  with 
quick-beating  hearts  that  the  Russian  mission 
there  work  on  for  the  world's  and  their  own  great 
cause.    Russian  refugees  about  them,  or  those  scat- 
tered elsewhere  over  the  whole  earth,  await  the  re- 
sults of  their  representatives'  labors  and  the  ver- 
dict of  their  Allies,  wondering  what  the  latter's  final 
attitude  toward  our  home-land  will  be. 

Six  months  has  brought  about  so  many  changes. 
Last  November,  when  the  armistice  was  signed, 
Russia  was  quite  prostrate,  bruised  and  broken;  and 
the  red  flame  of  Bolshevism,  still  fed  richly  with 
German  gold,  obeyed  German  instructions  and  con- 
tinued the  enemy's  work  against  the  Slavs.  D6ni- 
kin  then  was  fighting  hard,  holding  safe  a  small 
oasis  toward  the  southeast  of  the  great  steppe- 
lands.  The  Crimean  peninsula  was  already  recov- 
ering, but  slowly,  from  a  terrible  short  reign  of  Bol- 
shevism, and  these  two  units  had  joined  their  modest 
forces,  exchanging  protection  on  the  one  hand  for 
provisions  on  the  other.  There  were  several  more 
spots  where  law  was  still  recognized.  In  the  Cau- 
casus a  small  space  was  protected  by  Krassnoff  and 

213 


214  KUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

his  Cossacks  and  volunteers;  in  the  north,  about 
Archangel,  there  was  a  strong  defense  backed  by 
the  Allies,  which  had  been  organized  largely  through 
the  efforts  of  the  American  Ambassador,  to  uphold 
Tchaikovsky,  the  peasant  leader.  Elsewhere  the 
red  terror  was  being  fought  vaguely  by  nationalists : 
the  Finns  under  General  Mannerheim,  and  the  Letts 
and  Esthonians  in  the  Baltic  provinces  were  doing 
this,  while  Petlura  led  Ukrainians  forth  on  the  same 
errand,  so  he  said. 

There  was  no  communication  possible  between 
these  groups,  however,  and  they  knew  almost  nothing 
of  one  another's  actions  or  ambitions.  They  all  had 
different  ideas  and  plans  to  save  at  least  the  small 
locality  in  which  each  lived  from  Bolshevism. 

The  Crimeans  and  D&iikin  alone  kept  in  their 
programme  the  idea  of  a  final  gathering  together  of 
all  the  states  which  once  had  made  up  Russia's 
domain.  Perhaps  it  was  because  the  men  who 
chanced  to  be  in  these  two  groups  were  refugees 
from  north  and  east  and  west  themselves,  and  be- 
cause they  met  by  accident  only  in  the  southern 
province.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  every  one's 
politics  were  as  fluid  as  was  the  situation. 

When  the  conference  in  Paris  opened,  delegations 
were  sent  out  from  all  these  small  units,  begging  our 
Allies  for  succor  to  fight  on  against  the  scourge 
which  was  devouring  Russia. 

Anxious  as  to  conditions  they  had  left  behind 
them,  uncertain  of  what  news  the  morrow  might 
bring;  well-nigh  worn  out  from  strain,  privation, 


KOLCHAK  215 

danger,  and  the  agony  of  spirit  which  their  patri- 
otism suffered — each  set  of  representatives  came  to 
Paris  with  some  proposal  thought  out  in  ignorance 
of  conditions  as  a  whole.  Each  insisted  his  idea 
was  best  for  saving  what  was  left  of  our  country,  and 
that  his  alone  of  all  parties  was  bound  to  survive, 
since  it  had  done  so  thus  far. 

Soon  there  were  in  Paris  representatives  of  every 
political  persuasion  in  Russia — upholders  of  the 
autocracy,  who  stood  aside  and  were  ignored,  did 
not  even  ask  for  recognition ;  men,  hoping  still  for  a 
constitutional  monarchy;  liberals,  who  had  been 
content  in  the  service  of  the  ancient  government, 
but  who  frankly  said  they  now  were  no  longer  for 
it;  other  liberals,  who  had  been  the  frank  opposi- 
tion of  our  regime  in  olden  days.  There  were  also 
some  of  the  first  revolutionaries  of  1917,  and  others 
who  had  opposed  these  as  too  conservative  from  the 
beginning.  Every  shade  of  revolutionist,  socialist, 
and  nihilist  opinion  was  represented  at  the  world's 
great  centre.  When  one  reached  the  end  of  simple 
designations  one  began  on  the  hyphenated  party 
names  —  Social-Democrats,  Social-Revolutionaries, 
Radical  -  Revolutionaries,  Independent  -  Democrats, 
and  so  on.  All  expected  immediate  recognition,  each 
one  as  the  best  there  was  in  Russia;  and  every  dele- 
gation hoped  to  be  taken  at  once  into  the  Allies' 
confidence.  They  expected  attention,  and  the  grati- 
tude which  they  felt  was  owing  them  for  actual 
sufferings,  and  for  all  Russia's  ndble  work  during 
the  first  years  of  the  great  war. 


216  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

This  mass  of  Slavs,  attacking  indiscriminately, 
was  of  course  very  puzzling  and  disturbing  to  the 
Allies.  In  the  confusion  of  the  first  weeks  at  the 
congress,  with  so  many  serious  questions  concerning 
their  own  interests  weighing  on  their  minds,  the 
various  foreign  statesmen  felt  they  could  not  afford 
time  or  trouble  to  solve  this  problem  of  an  unhappy 
group  of  violent  partisans  clamoring  for  hearings 
and  for  help. 

"It  is  more  than  we  can  understand,"  they  said 
indifferently;  "when  other  questions  are  settled,  if 
there  are  time  and  money  and  sympathy  left  over, 
you  shall  have  some;  meanwhile  leave  us  to  the 
great  business  of  our  own  particular  necessities. 
First,  the  League  of  Nations,  secondly,  the  Germans, 
must  be  settled;  that  is  what  we  came  to  Paris  for. 
You  are  as  chaotic  as  your  land.'* 

Our  Russians  thus  tossed  aside  were  for  the 
moment  dazed,  hopeless,  and  silent.  It  took  them 
some  time  to  rise  from  such  a  blow,  when  they  had 
come  so  far  and  with  such  complete  faith.  They 
only  knew  they  had  been  fighting,  at  terrific  dis- 
advantage, the  red  peril  which  threatened  all  hu- 
manity, while  the  Allies  did  not  seem  to  realize  this 
in  the  safety  and  glory  of  a  recent  victory.  So  the 
Russians  stood  round  on  the  outside,  condemned  to 
look  on  merely  at  the  making  of  the  peace. 

Certain  individuals  were  kind  to  them,  through 
sheer  pity  for  their  sufferings;  or  remembering  how 
they  had  carried  the  entire  weight  of  the  war  in  the 
beginning,  while  France  was  helpless  to  defend  her- 


KOLCHAK  217 

self,  and  the  Anglo-Saxons  were  not  ready.  Yet  on 
the  whole,  now,  when  these  old  saviors  of  early  days 
cried  out  for  help,  there  was  none  to  speak  of  at  their 
disposal.  In  black  despair  Russians  foresaw  they 
must  return  home  empty-handed,  to  watch  the  con- 
tinued destruction  both  of  national  life  and  the  last 
remnants  of  civilization.  They  had  used  in  many 
cases  their  final  funds  to  travel  out  to  Paris,  sure  of 
the  welcome  they  would  receive;  and  there  was 
nothing  now  left  for  them  but  slow  ruin  and  death. 
No  wonder  deep  tragedy  reigned  in  the  mentality  of 
every  compatriot  in  Paris  ! 

Then  there  came  a  sudden  change.  One  or  two 
new  men  arrived:  real  statesmen,  practical  idealists, 
with  a  genius  for  comprehending  things  when  they 
looked  at  them;  also  a  genius  for  organizing.  They 
brought  power,  fire,  and  courage  into  the  group; 
and  these  sentiments  remained  fresh  and  new  always 
afterward,  drawing  inspiration  from  such  depths  of 
faith  and  patriotism,  drawing  persuasive  eloquence 
from  such  real  talent  and  capacity,  they  really  could 
not  fail.  Theirs  were  long  years  of  experience,  too, 
and  theirs  a  deep  confidence  in  the  good  common 
cause.  The  Allies  must  and  should  be  made  to  see 
their  own  advantage  in  standing  by  a  prostrate 
sister.  If  the  latter  were  allowed  to  die  there  would 
be  no  further  bulwark  between  the  world  and  a  uni- 
versal triumph  for  Bolshevism. 

"No  fear!"  they  told  their  dejected  followers. 
"The  Allies  will  soon  clearly  comprehend;  only  we, 
the  Russians,  must  get  together  at  once  and  stop 


218  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

moaning;  for  though  we  defended  the  good  cause  in 
the  early  years  of  war,  memory  among  nations  is 
short;  and  recently  in  the  name  of  Russia  many 
crimes  have  been  committed  !" 

"First  of  all,  instead  of  delegations  by  districts 
or  by  political  divisions,  there  must  be  one  mission, 
with  one  policy  and  programme  to  propose.  Russia 
must  present  a  united  front,  while  the  complete 
eradication  of  Bolshevism,  the  utmost  liberality 
toward  all  races  and  all  parties  in  the  empire,  will 
be  our  only  policy.  A  clear  statement  must  be 
offered  as  to  what  help  is  needed;  just  where  and 
just  when  it  should  be  given;  and  as  to  what  pay- 
ments will  be  assured  the  Allies  in  return.  No 
charity  need  be  asked  for,  nor  could  be  expected; 
aid  purchased  must  be  recompensed  at  high  rates." 

Immediately  almost,  out  of  the  small  discouraged 
chaos  which  in  Paris  represented  confusion  and  an- 
archy at  home  only  too  well,  there  now  emerged 
groups  of  experts,  with  capable  leaders  at  then- 
heads.  Four  committees  were  formed  to  which  all 
questions  could  be  referred,  by  which  they  could  be 
decided. 

In  each  of  these  committees  the  men  best  pre- 
pared for  their  special  work  were  placed,  of  what- 
ever political  sect  they  might  be. 

So  the  All-Russian  Mission  was  born,  with  a  de- 
partment for  politics,  one  for  military  affairs,  one 
for  finance,  and  the  last  one  for  provisioning.  Into 
these  four  frames  lawyers,  soldiers,  diplomats,  finan- 
ciers, sailors,  ex-members  of  autocratic  or  socialistic 


KOLCHAK  219 

cabinets,  ex-nihilists,  and  conservatives  fitted  them- 
selves, and  worked  harmoniously,  at  last,  with  re- 
newed enthusiasm  for  the  general  good.  The  meet- 
ings of  the  different  commissions  all  ran  with  sur- 
prising smoothness,  perfect  organization  existed,  and 
a  newspaper  was  launched  to  air  the  Russian  news 
and  views.  In  this  sheet  were  contributions  of 
prime  importance.  Coming  as  they  did  from  the 
best  brains,  they  were  much  read.  Sometimes  a 
Russian  penned  the  articles,  sometimes  it  was  an 
Ally,  big  enough  in  heart  to  understand,  broad 
enough  in  sympathy  to  defend  us  and  advise  the  other 
Allies  in  their  own  best  interest  to  hear  our  plea% 

When  all  was  ready  the  leaders  of  the  Russian 
mission  attacked  the  Peace  Conference's  head  men 
again.  This  time  with  quiet  dignity  and  systematic 
energy  the  latter  were  told  of  Russia's  services  in 
1914,  1915,  and  1916.  In  thrilling  words  present 
danger  to  the  world  at  large  from  the  Lenine- 
Trotzky  propaganda  was  recalled.  Attention  was 
attracted  to  the  heroic  groups  making  desperate 
efforts  even  now  against  the  terror,  and  to  their 
immediate  and  pressing  needs. 

The  first  answer  of  the  Allies  was  a  hideous  blow ! 
It  was  the  grotesque  invitation  to  all  Russian 
parties,  including  the  Bolsheviki,  to  a  conference 
on  the  Prince's  Islands,  where,  under  the  care  of 
two  or  three  guides  appointed  by  the  American 
President,  the  situation  at  home  was  to  be  discussed 
in  full,  and  harmony  was  to  be  established  by 
mutual  concessions ! 


220  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

The  necessity  of  replying  to  this  proposition 
definitely  bound  all  the  Russian  elements  together, 
for  the  question  on  which  they  were  most  beautifully 
unanimous  was  the  very  one  put  to  them.  Their 
refusal  was  so  absolutely  prompt  and  universal  that 
the  Allies  learned  for  all  time  there  was  no  use 
trying  to  mix  Bolsheviki  with  any  other  Russian 
group.  This  point  was  settled  at  once,  and  no  argu- 
ment or  explanation  was  ever  again  attempted.  .  .  . 
By  process  of  elimination  the  Allies  began  to  take  in 
why  it  was  Russians  had  come  to  Paris. 

And  from  evil  came  some  good:  The  Allies  fully 
realized  at  last  there  were  certain  things  which  we 
did  want,  were  hoping,  waiting,  working  for;  but 
that  a  picnic  on  the  Prince's  Islands  was  not  among 
these. 

Certain  individual  Russians,  having  personal 
friends  among  the  Allies,  were  helped  by  them  at 
this  juncture  to  obtain  interviews  with  the  impor- 
tant arbiters.  The  opportunity  was  given  also  to 
some  of  the  most  convincing  members  of  our  mission 
to  plead  their  cause  through  English  and  French 
newspapers  and  reviews.  All  this  was  unofficial,  of 
course,  for  officially  no  recognition  was  yet  accorded 
to  the  greatest  people  of  the  Slav  family.  How- 
ever, one  strong  Russian  patriot  obtained  the  Allies* 
promise — England's  and  France's — that  they  would 
send  soldiers  to  stand  behind  D6nikin's  army,  hold- 
ing what  ground  he  gained ;  the  French  from  Odessa 
to  the  Crimean  peninsula,  inclusively;  the  Eng- 
lish farther  east.  With  certain  military  points  and 


KOLCHAK  221 

various  ports  held  as  strategic  bases  behind  them, 
Denikin  and  Krassnoff  would  be  free  to  make  long 
expeditions  with  their  armies  in  full  force.  These 
foreign  military  units  were  to  be  upheld  and  strength- 
ened by  fleets  of  Allied  ships  anchored  along  the 
coast  of  each  one's  sphere,  besides  which  an  Allied 
expedition,  together  with  volunteer  neutral  troops, 
was  to  join  in  the  movement  of  Generals  Manner- 
heim  and  Udenitch  against  Petrograd;  these  also 
being  strengthened  by  ships  in  the  Baltic  (among 
which  we  heard  was  an  American  cruiser).  Ameri- 
can engineers,  largely  volunteers,  were  to  work  on 
the  Murmansk  Railroad,  which  needed  repair  and 
care;  English  volunteers  were  to  be  gathered  in 
London  for  military  work  round  Archangel,  to  take 
the  place  of  the  American  soldiers  soon  to  be  with- 
drawn. 

All  went  well  for  a  time,  and  these  different  bar- 
gains were  being  successfully  carried  out,  when  a 
second  tragic  blow  fell:  suddenly,  without  warning, 
the  French  evacuated  every  city  and  every  port 
they  held  on  the  Black  Sea.  Beginning  in  the  north 
of  their  zone  of  occupation,  while  Denikin — secure 
in  their  promise  and  in  the  presence  of  their  regi- 
ments and  crews — was  fighting  heavy  battles  far 
off  in  the  east,  the  French  walked  out  of  Kharkoff, 
Nikolaieff,  Kherson,  Odessa,  then  abandoned  the 
Perekop  Isthmus.  All  the  Crimean  peninsula,  with 
great  rapidity  and  without  a  sign  of  battle  at  any 
point,  was  also  completely  evacuated. 

Following  on  the  heels  of  the  French  came  a  great 


222  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

wave  of  civilian  refugees.  Mad  panic  reigned,  and 
demoralization  was  naturally  terrible  in  the  com- 
plete lack  of  all  protection.  After  this  fleeing  mul- 
titude came  the  Bolshevik  hordes,  burning,  pillaging, 
destroying,  killing.  The  condition  of  the  trustful 
Russian  populace  was  indescribable. 

At  Odessa,  where  the  evacuation  was  done  pell- 
mell,  refugees  so  fortunate  as  to  be  taken  away 
at  all  escaped  with  nothing  but  their  lives.  My 
mother-in-law,  a  French  woman  herself,  was  among 
those  saved  in  this  manner.  Letters  just  come 
through  to  us  are  epic  in  descriptions  and  dramatic 
glimpses  of  the  mad  confusion  at  the  embarkation 
scenes.  French  soldiers  and  sailors,  with  just  a  few 
prominent  people,  escaped,  and  were  taken  to  Con- 
stantinople. 

From  the  Crimea  several  thousand  refugees  were 
carried  off  from  the  coast  towns  by  British  men-of- 
war  and  transports.  Leaving  their  harbors  farther 
east,  these  came  to  the  rescue  in  the  emergency, 
and  organized  the  saving  of  our  natives,  or  such  at 
least  as  could  prepare  to  leave  in  the  short  time 
allowed.  The  Empress-Mother  and  the  Grand 
Duchess  Xenia,  with  the  latter's  young  children, 
were  put  on  board  an  English  battleship,  together 
with  the  old  commander-in-chief  of  Russia's  ancient 
armies.  Its  quota  embarked,  this  ship  prepared  to 
start.  The  Grand  Duke  Nicolas  made  inquiry 
whether  all  the  civilians  had  been  taken  from  the 
shore : 

"No,  your   imperial    Highness,   they   are  being 


KOLCHAK  223 

evacuated  as  rapidly  as  possible,  but  her  Majesty 
and  yourself  are  of  the  first  ship's  load." 

"Then  we  must  remain  here,  in  harbor,  at  least 
until  every  civilian  who  wants  to  come  is  safely  off 
those  docks. " 

The  officer  in  charge  saluted  and  instinctively 
obeyed  without  discussion.  The  old  Grand  Duke 
stood  on  deck  quietly  by  the  fragile  dainty  figure  of 
the  Empress-Mother.  They  were  safe  at  last,  those 
two,  undaunted  still;  and  all  their  entourage — of 
British  officers  and  Russian  refugees — bear  witness 
to  their  calm,  sad  courage,  and  to  the  way  they 
thought  only  of  saving  and  of  helping  others  in  the 
crisis.  .  .  .  They  stood  together  looking  for  the  last 
time,  probably,  on  a  Russian  scene.  Both  had  loved 
their  country  well,  and  had  served  it  with  devo- 
tion, refusing  to  leave  till  now;  and  even  now  they 
turned  their  longing  gaze  to  the  blue  and  purple 
Crimean  shore  after  the  ship  weighed  anchor,  carry- 
ing them  away,  until  at  last  the  mountains  disap- 
peared on  the  horizon.  After  that  they  retired 
quietly  to  their  cabins,  he  and  she,  who  were  still 
very  great  in  their  silent  misery. 

No  one  seems  to  know  just  what  occurred  to  the 
French  troops,  or  why  their  departure  was  decided 
upon.  Till  the  last  stage  of  their  soldiers'  and 
sailors'  occupation  of  our  shores,  the  French  Cabinet 
was  convinced  its  garrison  in  Russia  was  not  think- 
ing of  leaving.  Even  when  the  news  of  the  evacua- 
tion reached  Paris,  authorities  at  first  contradicted 
the  "false  rumors."  The  truth,  however,  was  soon 


224  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

only  too  obvious,  and  there  was  nothing  to  be  done 
but  to  express  regret.  Meanwhile,  thousands  of 
refugees  waited  five  weeks  or  more  under  English 
care — at  Constantinople,  on  the  Prince's  Islands,  in 
Greece,  and  at  Malta — for  permission  to  enter 
France. 

One  of  our  family  writes  me:  "We  are  in  good 
hands,  and  our  English  hosts  here  in  Malta  are  full 
of  delicacy  and  kindness,  and  refuse  all  payment. 
But  we  count  the  few  jewels  and  roubles  we  were 
able  to  carry  off  in  our  haste,  and  we  wonder  when 
they  are  spent,  what  will  become  of  us  elsewhere  ? 
I,  who  am  partly  French,  hope  to  get  through  to 
Paris  soon.  The  Grand  Duke,  sad  but  proud  and 
noble  always,  went  on  with  his  group  to  land  in 
Italy.  The  Empress-Mother  leaves  for  England 
to-morrow.  She  is  marvellous  in  her  courage;  re- 
fuses to  blame  any  one  for  her  troubles,  or  to  believe 
that  Russia  is  lost;  and  her  daughter  is  like  her. 
They  think  of  every  one  else.  All  this  will  put 
French  prestige  at  low  ebb.  Perhaps  the  Allies  will 
explain?" 

Our  mission's  good  work  is  most  felt,  perhaps,  in 
the  paragraph  of  the  peace  treaty  which  it  is  said 
will  grant  to  Russia — in  recognition  of  her  service 
and  sacrifices  early  in  the  war — equal  rights  with 
the  other  Allies  as  soon  as  she  shall  have  established 
a  secure  and  popular  government.  The  same  men 
who  obtained  this  concession  to  justice  hope  they 
have  obtained,  also,  the  promise  of  material  supplies 


KOLCHAK  225 

in  quantity — food,  implements,  raw  materials,  am- 
munition, harness,  uniforms,  clothes,  arms,  and  so 
on.  Of  course,  all  these,  if  really  sold  to  us,  will  be 
at  a  high  price.  Arrangements  as  to  man-power  are 
vague;  perhaps  men  are  not  essentially  needed, 
though,  since  in  spite  of  her  frightful  losses — about 
five  millions — through  the  war,  men  still  seem  numer- 
ous in  Russia.  Many  are  already  fighting  for  lib- 
erty as  against  anarchy;  many  others  are  return- 
ing home,  who  as  volunteers  have  been  on  the 
French  front  since  1917,  or  who  were  scattered  by 
the  wind  of  revolution  as  exiles  all  over  the  earth. 

English  army  units  in  demobilizing  are  supplying 
volunteer  recruits,  now  entering  Russian  formations 
through  London  offices.  If  I  know  the  sporting 
spirit  and  the  temper  of  my  own  native  land  there 
will  be  adventurous  spirits  from  the  United  States 
ready  also  to  lend  a  hand.  For  the  moment  it  seems 
as  if  German  officers  and  gold  were  growing  some- 
what scarce  among  the  Bolsheviki,  and  without  these 
two  reasons  the  reds  are  not  much  good  at  fighting. 
Everywhere  rabble  who  meet  determined  troops 
either  turn  and  fly,  or  join  the  liberating  units  in 
great  quantities,  announcing  they  are  overweary 
of  the  Lenine-Trotzky  tyranny  and  lack  of  bread. 

So  the  Russian  mission  works  on,  near  the  Peace 
Conference,  still  not  of  it;  and  there  has  been  effec- 
tive action  in  spite  of  many  disillusions  through  the 
weeks  of  the  long  spring.  It  would  seem  as  if  the 
leaders  might  well  be  proud,  on  the  whole,  for  there 
are  daily  reports  of  Denikin's  advances,  of  the  cap- 


226  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

ture  of  various  suburbs  of  Petrograd ;  and  with  start- 
ling suddenness  from  the  east  Kolchak  and  his  army 
come  forward,  sweeping  all  before  them,  aiming 
straight  for  the  "  Mother  River  Volga "  and  the 
"Holy  City  of  Moscow." 

While  he  moves  into  the  limelight  of  history,  it 
seems  a  good  time  to  look  back  a  little  at  the  past 
of  this  remarkable  man.  Kolchak  is  still  quite 
young:  about  forty-five,  clean-shaven,  with  a  face 
striking  for  its  strength  and  vigor  of  expression; 
neither  handsome  nor  ugly  otherwise.  He  is  of 
thin,  wiry  build,  with  few  but  positive  gestures, 
moving  quickly.  Not  much  of  a  talker,  what  he 
says  commands  instant  attention;  never  trying  for 
popularity,  he  always  finds  it  seemingly.  Severe 
toward  what  he  thinks  wrong,  he  gives  complete 
protection,  devoted  service  to  what  he  thinks  is 
right;  always  ready  to  carry  responsibility,  never 
mixing  in  what  he  considers  not  his  business,  a 
natural  leader  of  men  is  Alexander  Vasiltevitch 
Kolchak. 

I  first  heard  of  him  in  a  rather  amusing  manner. 
During  the  early  part  of  the  war  the  commander  of 
the  Black  Sea  fleet  was  a  fat,  elderly  admiral  with  a 
German  name,  a  prot6g£,  it  was  said,  of  the  occult 
forces  at  our  court.  He  had  arrived  at  his  high 
position  by  seniority  promotion  and  court  protec- 
tions; and  he  and  the  fleet  under  him  drifted  along 
comfortably,  as  accident  ordained.  The  Goeben 
came  and  attacked,  or  made  feints  at  attacking  our 
ports  at  several  points;  and  it  was  always  followed, 


KOLCHAK. 


KOLCHAK  227 

but  never  caught,  by  parties  sent  after  the  enemy 
from  Sebastopol's  anchorage.  Enemy  submarines 
also  appeared  and  disappeared  without  fear.  Mean- 
while, whenever  the  liberal  party  criticised  the  com- 
mander, or  protested  that  a  change  would  be  ad- 
vantageous, there  was  a  storm  at  the  imperial 
palace,  and  it  was  said  that  his  protectresses  there 
wept,  and  said:  "Poor  old  admiral;  what  will  he 
do  ?  It  is  so  hard  on  him ;  and,  after  all,  that  fleet 
won't  be  needed  for  battle,  and  he  is  so  popular  in 
Sebastopol!" 

So  he  stayed  on,  and  the  naval  officers  who  came 
from  the  south  looked  grave  but  remained  silent 
through  loyalty.  Rumors  drifted  about,  however, 
of  the  admiral's  conduct  being  very  negligent  of 
duty,  to  say  the  least.  Tales  were  told  of  his  fond- 
ness for  genial  society  life  on  shore,  of  the  charming 
parties  given  in  his  honor  in  attractive  homes  of  the 
married  officers  under  his  command.  On  the  other 
hand,  came  talk  of  spies  at  work  among  the  sailors; 
of  carelessness  and  lack  of  drill;  of  ships  not  kept 
up;  of  the  officer  in  charge,  with  his  German  name, 
not  being  in  any  way  what  he  should  be.  But 
Sebastopol  was  far  from  Petrograd,  not  many  came 
from  there,  and  almost  none  who  would  have  courage 
to  speak  against  the  admiral  of  the  fleet.  If  the 
situation  gave  our  liberals  food  for  grave  thought  it 
was  but  usual.  Were  they  not  always  pretending 
to  be  anxious  and  foretelling  evil  things  ? 

The  social  world  of  the  capital  was  electrified, 
however,  to  hear  by  chance,  one  day,  of  an  explosion 


228  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

and  of  the  complete  destruction  and  loss  of  the 
greatest  and  newest  Russian  battleship,  Empress 
Marie.  An  accident,  it  was  said.  First  the  censors 
suppressed  all  news;  then,  ten  days  after  the  event, 
the  story  leaked  out  by  degrees  and  was  admitted, 
with  a  great  deal  of  rearranging.  Details  and  accusa- 
tions flew  from  mouth  to  mouth.  Spies  in  our  great- 
est harbor;  on  our  newest,  finest  ship,  the  only  one 
fast  enough  to  follow  the  Breslau;  just  built  at  war- 
time prices !  The  loss  was  terrible  from  every  point 
of  view!  Then  followed  attacks  on  the  admiral. 
He  was  careless,  to  say  the  least,  and  ought  to  be 
changed  for  some  one  better  able  to  cope  with  the 
situation !  .  .  .  This  time,  claims  were  so  insistent 
against  him  that  the  Emperor  was  finally  moved  to 
give  a  half-hearted  consent  to  the  officer's  retire- 
ment. The  consent  was  not  retracted,  in  spite  of 
tears  and  pleadings  which  his  Majesty  may  have 
had  to  face  in  his  home  circle. 

The  old  admiral  found  that  even  in  easy-going 
Russia  there  was  a  limit  to  powers  of  "protection." 
He  left  the  service,  much  discouraged  that  his  good 
intentions  were  not  recognized  sufficiently,  though 
the  pension  awarded  him  was  so  large  as  to  make 
people  gasp.  His  lady  friends  in  the  town  of  Sebas- 
topol,  having  gossiped  with  him  before,  gossiped 
about  him  now  over  their  knitting  and  their  tea; 
and,  making  "Le  roi  est  mort,  vive  le  roi!"  their 
motto,  they  quite  cheerfully  prepared  to  receive 
the  new  commander  of  the  port.  He  was  young, 
they  heard.  So  much  the  better;  a  younger  man 


KOLCHAK  229 

would  be  but  the  more  easily  flattered  by  attention. 
Certainly  their  husbands*  careers  would  not  be 
neglected  for  lack  of  hospitable  efforts  on  the  part 
of  society.  They  wondered  how  the  new  chief 
would  appear  ?  and  prepared,  and  waited. 

The  admiral  arrived;  or  rather,  without  arriving, 
as  far  as  the  ladies  knew,  he  was  simply  there. 
Those  who  had  arranged  a  reception  in  his  honor 
were  terribly  shocked;  for  one  day  husbands  came 
home  to  say  they  had  been  on  the  flag-ship,  and  had 
reported  to  the  new  commander  of  the  fleet. 

How  did  he  get  here  ?  Why  were  they  not  told  ? 
What  had  occurred?  And:  "When  shall  we  be 
able  to  meet  and  give  our  reception  to  this  new 
strange  man?"  asked  the  wives. 

"He  flew  here.  Yes,  literally.  Stopping  his 
special  train  outside  the  town  he  took  a  hydroair- 
plane  and  flew  out  to  his  flag-ship's  side  early  this 
morning,"  the  husbands  answered.  "Did  not  an- 
nounce his  coming  because  he  wanted  to  see  how 
things  were  in  their  natural  state.  As  to  the  recep- 
tion, it  never  will  be  given.  He  sent  for  us  within 
an  hour  after  he  took  possession.  Met  us  all 
quietly  without  much  ceremony;  gave  us  to  under- 
stand he  considered,  after  looking  about,  that  there 
was  a  lot  of  work  to  be  done  to  put  Sebastopol  and 
the  ships  in  order;  that  he  meant  to  do  it;  and  that 
we  were  to  help  him.  He  said  that  he  would  tol- 
erate no  relaxation  from  the  perfection  of  discipline 
and  service,  especially  in  these  war-times  and  after 
what  had  been  reported  as  occurring  here  with  the 


230  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

blowing  up  of  the  Empress  Marie.  Then  he  gave 
a  few  orders,  which  were  to  the  point,  and  which 
showed  he  had  already  noticed  what  was  most 
wrong;  and  he  said  there  would  be  further  orders 


soon." 


"But  when  shall  we  meet  him  ?  If  he  is  so  young 
and  energetic  perhaps  he  likes  to  dance.  One  could 
arrange  a  ball  in  his  honor,"  pursued  the  anxious 
women. 

But  the  husbands  said  no,  most  positively;  and 
when  hard  pressed,  they  added  that  just  at  the  end 
of  the  conversation  the  admiral  had  looked  at  them 
squarely  and  had  said  he  came  to  Sebastopol  for 
work,  not  play.  In  these  serious  times  one  must 
be  pre-eminently  occupied  by  one's  duty,  especially 
when  it  consisted  of  a  great  responsibility  such  as 
he  carried.  As  he  had  never  been  a  society  man 
and  went  nowhere,  people  must  not  feel  offended  by 
his  refusal  of  all  invitations.  He  had  heard  of  Se- 
bastopol as  being  very  gay,  and  of  his  predecessor 
as  having  had  great  social  success.  Personally  he 
could  not  do  two  things  well  at  once,  he  found,  and 
he  had  been  sent  to  command  the  fleet.  He  heard 
also  Sebastopol  was  a  gossipy  place;  possibly,  he 
thought,  stories  circulated  about,  whether  false  or 
true,  had  put  useful  information  into  the  enemy's 
hands?  Perhaps  also  they  had  done  the  former 
commander  harm  by  making  him  appear  other 
than  he  really  was  ? 

"I  do  not  mean  ever  to  go  about;  I  have  no  ob- 
jection, of  course,  gentlemen,  to  your  wives  and 


KOLCHAK  231 

families  living  here  with  you  in  this  town  and  getting 
what  pleasure  is  possible  from  its  social  life ;  but  while 
I  am  in  charge  here  and  responsible  I  can  tolerate 
no  gossip  on  any  official  subject.  The  fleet  and  the 
fortress  of  Sebastopol  are  too  precious  to  us  to  be 
sacrificed  by  an  idle  thought  risked  or  expressed. 
If  I  hear,  therefore,  of  any  stories  whatsoever  get- 
ting about,  I  shall  be  obliged,  as  a  measure  of  pro- 
tection, to  banish  every  woman  from  within  the 
walls  to  the  suburbs.  I  should  never  be  able  to  find 
out  which  person  had  been  indiscreet,  and  should 
not  have  time  to  try." 

Of  course  the  women  were  amazed.  Then  realiz- 
ing the  situation,  they  resolved  to  play  the  game 
with  true  patriotism,  and  became  the  least  talkative 
group  in  all  Russia. 

When  I  reached  Eupatoria,  a  charming  resort 
beyond  Sebastopol,  in  the  summer  of  1916,  Kolchak 
had  just  taken  command  of  the  Black  Sea  fleet  in 
the  above  manner.  Except  the  one  story  of  his  ex- 
citing entrance  on  his  duties,  there  was  none  other 
which  ever  passed  the  walls  of  the  great  fortress. 
The  silence  was  exemplary,  and  it  was  said  the  dis- 
cipline and  the  work  done  were  equally  so.  Now 
naval  officers  looked  pleased  and  proud  when  their 
branch  of  the  service  was  mentioned. 

In  Petrograd  I  found,  when  I  returned  there, 
people  had  been  rather  startled  by  the  new  nomina- 
tion. Kolchak  was  so  young,  and  what  had  he 
ever  done  ?  Who  in  society  had  ever  heard  of  him  ? 
But  it  turned  out  that  a  number  of  men  in  posi- 


232  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

tions  to  know  had  things  to  tell  of  Kolchak;  of  the 
brilliant  showing  he  had  made  in  the  Japanese  War; 
of  the  golden  sword  awarded  him  for  bravery  at 
Port  Arthur ;  of  his  admirable  record  since ;  and  the 
unadvertised  but  great  intelligence  and  capacity 
of  the  man.  We  would  see  that  within  a  year  the 
group  of  men  under  Kolchak  would  become  the 
marvel  of  our  service. 

The  next  winter  I  spent  in  part  on  the  Crimea's 
southern  coast,  about  three  hours  by  motor  from 
Sebastopol,  which  still  continued  a  silent  city. 

Then  came  the  revolution.  Though  there  were 
wild  tales  of  hideous  barbarity  from  tCronstadt  and 
other  Baltic  ports,  of  massacres  and  mutinies  by 
our  sailors,  of  tragic  death  and  destruction  every- 
where else  where  ships  existed — in  the  Black  Sea 
fleet  the  opposite  was  the  case.  No  one  explained 
the  difference  except  by  saying  that  Kolchak  was 
in  command  there;  and  they  seemed  to  consider  he 
was  reason  enough.  No  one  ever  searched  for  a 
further  one,  or  worried  over  what  might  be  happen- 
ing in  the  south. 

We  were  cut  off  from  all  communications  with  the 
capital  for  several  days  at  the  beginning  of  the 
revolution;  and  our  excitement  and  interest,  thrown 
back  upon  themselves  made  us  pay  special  attention 
to  the  affairs  of  our  own  immediate  neighborhood. 
When  the  first  rumors  of  events  at  Petrograd  and 
at  the  staff  reached  him,  instead  of  trying  to  sup- 
press or  contradict  them,  as  many  leaders  elsewhere 
thought  it  wise  to  do,  Kolchak  published  in  big 


KOLCHAK  233 

print,  covering  the  front  page  of  the  main  daily 
newspapers  of  his  town,  a  proclamation  over  his 
signature.  It  said  in  effect  this  (which  I  quote 
from  memory)  to  the  citizens  of  Sebastopol  and  the 
members  of  the  Black  Sea  fleet: 

"The  following  despatches  have  reached  me": 
(Here  were  inserted  the  despatches  speaking  of  the 
uprising  by  the  revolutionaries  in  Petrograd.) 

"If  I  have  further  news,  it  will  be  at  once  pub- 
lished in  full  for  the  benefit  of  the  population.  At 
present  I  have  no  confirmation  even  of  these  rumors. 
It  is  the  absolute  duty  of  all  citizens  and  all  mem- 
bers of  the  service  to  await  the  future  tranquilly,  to 
meet  present  national  occurrences  with  calm  minds; 
and  to  devote  all  their  strength  and  energy  to  the 
maintenance  of  law  and  order  in  these  days  of  un- 
certainty. I  fully  count  on  this  being  done ;  and  with 
all  the  strength  at  my  disposal  I  will  see  to  the  keep- 
ing of  the  peace  and  the  protection  of  life  and  prop- 
erty here,  so  that  we  may  be  able  to  act  for  the  best 
interest  of  this  district  and  of  all  Russia. 

"  KOLCHAK." 

On  the  same  day  orders  were  given  that  several 
of  the  larger  ships  should  put  to  sea  at  once  on  one 
of  their  periodical  search  parties  for  the  German 
cruisers  Goeben  and  Breslau.  All  these  commands 
were  obeyed  to  the  letter;  the  fortress  and  the 
Crimean  coast  remained  perfectly  silent  and  waited 
without  a  sign  of  agitation  for  further  news  from 


234  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

the  seat  of  government.  The  whole  province  was 
dominated  by  the  strength  of  a  single  master  mind, 
and  Kolchak's  sailors  were  too  perfectly  disciplined 
to  think  of  rebellion. 

Several  days  later,  when  telegrams  came  through, 
the  Emperor's  abdication  and  the  establishment  of 
the  revolutionary  government  were  accomplished 
facts,  and  Kolchak  (with  his  officers  and  the  sailors 
of  the  fleet  and  garrison)  immediately  and  quietly 
took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  provisional  revo- 
lutionary government.  After  that  event,  life  went 
on  as  smoothly  as  ever  in  the  established  grooves. 
Of  course,  "committees"  were  installed  at  Sebas- 
topol  as  elsewhere,  but  relations  between  officers 
and  sailors  remained  excellent,  drills  and  work  con- 
tinued in  ordinary  routine,  and  all  our  part  of  the 
country  felt  safe  because  of  the  presence  of  our  sail- 
ors and  their  commander.  The  very  element  which 
everywhere  else  was  considered  most  unruly,  here 
made  for  general  protection.  ...  I  never  heard  what 
the  admiral  said  of  the  revolution.  He  seemed  never 
to  have  made  a  communication  to  any  one  on  the 
subject;  but  there  was  an  impression  that,  having 
always  been  a  liberal,  even  when  he  loyally  served, 
his  country  during  the  old  regime,  he  must  be  in 
sympathy  with  the  revolutionary  change.  At  any 
rate,  his  sailors  adored  him  now  as  before. 

When  I  went  north  a  month  after  the  revolu- 
tion, I  heard  in  the  capital  that  the  Bolshevik  sailors 
at  Kronstadt  Were  greatly  displeased  by  the  attitude 
of  the  Black  Sea  fleet.  They  considered  the  latter 


KOLCHAK  235 

was  trying  to  put  them  to  shame,  posing  to  be  better 
than  the  " protection  of  the  revolution"  required. 
Soon  came  a  rumor  that  these  red  sailors  of  the 
Baltic,  who  had  murdered  their  own  admiral  and 
many  other  officers,  were  going  to  send  a  delega- 
tion to  Sebastopol  to  instruct  the  Black  Sea  fleet 
committees.  One  wondered  why  this  was  allowed, 
as  the  two  fleets  were  quite  separate  organizations 
and  had  never  mixed?  But  the  Soviets  were  al- 
ready too  powerful  to  be  contradicted  by  the  mere 
government,  and  the  delegation  departed  on  its 
sinister  errand. 

At  first  there  was  no  result  whatsoever,  and  lack 
of  news  from  Sebastopol  led  one  to  believe  all  was 
going  satisfactorily.  Finally,  after  some  weeks,  how- 
ever, came  a  day  when  a  short  dramatic  scene  on 
board  the  flag-ship  ended  this  part  of  the  admiral's 
career.  Numerous  additions  to  that  first  delega- 
tion from  the  north  had  by  degrees  gathered  in  the 
Sebastopol  fortress,  whence  Kolchak  had  no  power 
to  expel  them,  since  the  "Number  One  Order"  to 
our  troops  destroyed  his  authority  in  such  matters. 
The  red  sailors'  presence  had  at  last  borne  fruit, 
and  the  committees  gathered,  asking  to  speak  to 
their  admiral. 

He  received  them  on  the  deck  of  his  flag-ship 
and  listened  while  they  told  of  the  teachings  of  their 
brethren  from  Kronstadt.  There  was  a  new  law: 
that  the  commanders  were  to  be  elected  by  their 
subordinates  and  were  not  to  carry  arms.  Would 
he  therefore  surrender  his  sword  to  the  committee  ? 


236  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Kolchak  undid  his  sword  quietly  with  a  quick  ges- 
ture, and  holding  it  still  in  his  hand  he  made  one  of 
his  rare  speeches;  just  a  few  words. 

His  sword  had  been  awarded  him  for  his  action 
in  defending  the  home  country  at  Port  Arthur.  It 
had  been  offered  him  by  the  committee  of  the  Order 
of  St.  George,  and  was  the  Golden  Sword  given 
for  bravery  in  battle.  It  was  too  fine  a  thing  to 
be  handed  to  a  lot  of  cowards  who  were  afraid  to 
stand  up  for  the  principles  of  their  service  and  the 
rights  of  their  own  unit,  but  were  being  tyrannized 
by  bullies  come  from  outside,  into  doing  things 
they  would  later  regret.  .  .  .  His  sword  was  also 
the  badge  of  his  authority,  and  without  it  he  would 
no  longer  command  them,  nor  any  one.  He  had 
won  it  on  the  sea,  and  to  the  sea  only  he  would  re- 
turn it;  for  those  who  stood  before  him  were  prov- 
ing themselves  at  this  moment  unworthy  to  touch 
a  Golden  Sword  of  St.  George ! 

Before  they  got  their  breath,  with  a  sudden  move- 
ment he  threw  the  sword  he  had  worn  for  a  dozen 
years,  with  its  golden  hilt  and  the  ribbon  of  St. 
George  wound  round  it,  far  out  into  the  blue  water 
of  the  harbor.  Then  he  turned  his  back  on  the 
whole  group,  which  stood  silent,  went  to  his  cabin, 
had  his  things  packed,  ordered  his  gig  and  left  the 
flag-ship.  The  sailors  never  saw  him  again,  for  he 
took  the  first  train  to  Petrograd  and  reported  to 
the  provisional  government,  handing  in  his  official 
resignation. 

He  was  followed  to  Petrograd  by  two  groups  of 


KOLCHAK  237 

sailors:  one  made  up  of  the  Bolshevik  delegations, 
who  returned  to  tell  the  Kronstadt  Soviet  that, 
after  many  weeks  of  propaganda,  they  had  at  last 
been  successful  in  dislodging  the  inconvenient  Kol- 
chak;  the  other,  a  group  representing  those  sailors 
of  the  Black  Sea  fleet  who  were  still  sufficiently  de- 
voted to  their  admiral  to  bring  him  excuses  and  ex- 
planations. 

It  was  spread  about  how  he  received  and  thanked 
these  latter  men  for  their  fidelity  to  the  fine  traditions 
of  Russia's  navy  and  for  their  thought  of  him,  which 
he  would  not  forget ;  and  how  he  said  good-by,  with 
the  hope  expressed  that  some  day  they  might  again 
serve  together. 

Kolchak  after  this  disappeared  from  sight.  I  re- 
member we  were  a  group  of  parlor  patriots  one  day, 
speaking  of  the  admiral's  work,  how  fine  it  had  been, 
how  he  had  never  mixed  in  politics  or  intrigues, 
and  had  disdained  catering  to  court  popularity  or 
looking  for  favors;  how  he  had  been  a  liberal,  and 
had  kept  the  efficiency  of  his  subordinates  and  their 
enthusiasm  always  at  such  high  pitch;  and  how  he 
had  left  his  great  position  and  thrown  his  honors 
into  the  sea  rather  than  give  way  in  the  slightest 
degree  to  encroaching  Bolshevism  or  to  the  temp- 
tation to  play  the  demagogue.  All  this  though  he 
had  accepted  the  revolutionary  liberty  with  im- 
mediate acquiescence. 

"He  is  the  highest  type  of  patriot  that  we  have 
in  Russia,  and  he  is  lost  to  us  now  when  we  need 
him  most,"  said  one. 


238  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

"No;  he  is  only  waiting.  When  the  need  is 
greatest  and  the  time  is  ripe,  with  sure  instinct  he 
will  appear  again,  his  hands  unsoiled  by  degenerating 
compromise  with  the  terror,  which  must  follow  these 
months  of  weakness  as  their  last  and  normal  result. 
We  shall  all  see,'*  answered  another. 

It  seemed  for  a  long  time  as  if  something  might 
happen  to  save  the  provisional  government,  which 
was  fast  degenerating.  Kerensky  tried,  by  giving 
way  constantly  to  the  ultraradical  group,  to  keep 
his  personal  popularity,  or  at  least  a  remnant  of  his 
power.  Korniloff  tried  for  a  return  to  discipline. 
Both  failed,  and  soon  the  Bolsheviki  seized  the 
reins,  and  under  German  guidance  they  rode  rough- 
shod over  all  that  was  left  of  prosperity,  law  and 
order,  national  honor  and  personal  safety  in  Russia. 
Here  and  there  a  few  held  out  for  right  in  the  great 
empire.  These,  if  they  were  in  European  Russia, 
were  killed,  were  driven  to  the  little  groups  round 
Denikin  and  Krassnoff,  or  they  became  refugees 
in  hiding. 

On  the  Asiatic  side  of  the  Ural  Mountains  there 
was  chaos  for  a  long  time,  'fhe  whole  population 
was  merely  one  vast,  shifting,  disorderly  mass.  The 
peasants  out  there  were  a  conservative,  prosperous, 
scattered  element,  at  least  at  first,  while  the  cities 
were  soon  crowded  to  overflowing  by  an  immense 
wave  of  fleeing  humanity  from  Russia  proper,  thus 
about  doubling  their  population  overnight.  The  rail- 
roads became  completely  disorganized  by  the  extra- 
ordinary traffic,  the  confusion  of  authority,  and  the 


KOLCHAK  239 

wholesale  requisitioning  of  cars  to  house  transient 
populations. 

Bolshevik  propaganda  had  its  day  of  triumph 
also.  Even  now,  like  some  legendary  dragon  it  is 
far  from  crushed;  but  it  has  met  in  Siberia  with 
definite  resistance  from  various  cliques  such  as 
roaming  groups  of  Cossacks,  foreign  colonies,  and 
armed  conservative  elements,  who  thought  it  worth 
while  to  put  up  what  fight  they  could.  On  the 
other  hand,  hundreds  of  criminals  from  the  govern- 
ment prisons,  together  with  the  German,  Austrian, 
and  Hungarian  prisoners  of  war,  were  freed  and 
well  armed  by  the  Soviets.  They  took  the  Bolshe- 
viki's  part,  of  course,  with  energy,  and  Siberia  be- 
came one  seething  polyglot  mass  of  mad  confusion. 

It  was  impossible  to  those  outside  even  to  imagine 
what  was  going  on  in  our  vast  Asiatic  territory. 
One  heard  of  Cossacks  under  S6menoff  seizing  the 
power  in  one  place,  while  Japanese  with  Chinese 
under  them  seemed  to  take  charge  elsewhere.  One 
heard  also  of  Germans  dominant,  with  their  Bol- 
shevik servants  doing  their  bidding,  in  many  locali- 
ties. Every  known  race  seemed  represented,  and 
the  whole  of  Siberia  tossed  and  rolled  and  shouted ! 

In  the  autumn  of  1918  the  newspapers  of  foreign 
countries  announced  that  Admiral  Kolchak  was  at 
Omsk.  He  had  no  party,  no  soldiers,  no  politics; 
he  was  simply  there.  Soon  one  heard  of  a  provi- 
sional All-Russian  government  being  organized,  in 
which  he  held  a  modest  place,  and  there  was  a 
call  to  the  variegated  populations  to  be  reassured. 


240  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

There  followed  orders  to  elements  not  Bolshevik, 
to  stop  quarrelling  among  themselves  and  to  join 
in  fighting  the  red  terror  with  its  Germano-Austrian 
supporters. 

At  first  S6menoff  made  difficulties,  preferred  to 
lead  his  Cossacks  independently;  but  he  was  won 
over  to  the  government.  Then  Kalmikoff,  another 
Cossack  chief,  organized  a  plot  for  his  own  aggran- 
dizement, failed  to  carry  it  out,  and  came  into  the 
fold  gladly.  For  sundry  reasons,  not  only  these 
men  but  party  after  party  by  degrees  grouped 
themselves  about  Kolchak;  and  when  the  first  All- 
Russian  government  fell,  a  new  one  replaced  it, 
with  Kolchak  at  its  head.  No  one  quite  knew  why, 
except  that  the  ex-admiral  seemed  the  one  man  able 
to  inspire  confidence  in  all.  Having  no  party,  or 
personal  ambition,  he  was  able  to  unite  every  rival 
interest. 

Even  so,  it  has  been  far  from  fair-weather  sailing 
for  the  Omsk  government.  With  almost  no  money, 
practically  no  troops,  unreliable  transportation,  and 
lack  of  munitions,  the  situation  seemed  well-nigh  a 
hopeless  one  to  face  when  military  action,  political 
moulding,  and  economic  reconstruction  at  one  and 
the  same  time  were  needed. 

But  Kolchak  the  silent  found  his  voice.  He  com- 
municated with  the  whole  world  beyond  Siberia  in 
a  great  cry  for  aid  and  understanding,  as  he  under- 
took his  herculean  task.  Round  him  he  used  vari- 
ous methods:  persuasion  or  severity  alike  were 
good.  He  found  helpers  somehow  among  the  dif- 


KOLCHAK  241 

ferent  parties  who  were  there.  In  exchange  for  the 
protection  they  foresaw  might  come  to  them,  they 
worked  in  the  good  cause. 

The  Czecho-Slovaks,  who  had  painfully  reached 
Vladivostok  to  embark  for  the  French  front,  turned 
back  again  by  the  Allies'  orders,  and  faced  the  rigors 
of  another  Russian  winter  and  of  great  privations, 
to  bring  Kolchak  their  succor.  They  were  a  group 
of  lions  in  battle,  especially  because  they  had 
learned  to  know  and  hate  the  Bolsheviki  during 
their  long,  terrible  marches  across  European  and 
Asiatic  Russia.  There  were  Russian  volunteers, 
also,  mainly  ex-officers,  who  by  some  miracle  had 
not  yet  been  killed  and  were  refugees.  These 
flocked  to  Kolchak's  banner,  organized  themselves 
into  an  independent  unit,  all  officers,  but  doing 
soldiers'  work  and  taking  soldiers'  rank.  There  were 
a  few  Allied  troops  as  well,  especially  along  the  great 
stretch  of  the  railroad,  scattered  to  guard  the  gov- 
ernment's supplies  and  the  precious  line  of  iron 
communications,  from  Omsk  backward  to  Pacific 
ports.  Some  English  did  most  effective  work, 
while  Japanese  in  quantities  were  very  busy  every- 
where, and  certainly  proved  themselves  most  capa- 
ble. A  commission  under  Mr.  Stevens  undertook 
handling  the  railroad  problems,  and  American  engi- 
neers, experts  and  specialists,  under  this  fine  man, 
have  done  the  best  sort  of  work.  An  American 
army  contingent  was  ordered  from  the  Philippines, 
and  arrived,  full  of  enthusiasm  and  energy,  for  duty 
all  along  the  road.  Ready  to  uphold  the  Allies  and 


242  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

back  the  liberal  government  against  the  forces  of 
anarchy,  these  men  were  frightfully  discouraged 
when,  soon  after  their  arrival,  they  received  orders 
from  Washington  contradicting  their  first  com- 
mands and  were  instead  categorically  instructed  to 
keep  to  a  policy  of  non-interference.  The  United 
States  troops  were  even  withdrawn  to  the  port  of 
Vladivostok,  where  they  looked  on  inert,  hoping 
and  praying  they  would  be  taken  away  or  be  sent 
forward  again.  It  is  difficult  to  sit  in  a  country 
with  idle  hands  and  see  so  much  to  do,  and  every 
one  else  doing  it,  when  one  is  strong  and  generous 
by  nature.  In  February  last  it  was  reported  Mr. 
Stevens  said:  "It  is  impossible  to  assure  a  good 
railroad  system  without  the  backing  of  American 
soldiers  for  the  international  board  of  which  I  am 
the  head."  In  May  a  member  of  the  expedition 
wrote  me,  saying  he  hoped  we  Russians  would 
realize  how  much  every  American  who  had  been 
in  Siberia  wanted  to  help  in  the  great  work  out 
there,  and  that  they  were  all  being  held  back  only 
by  orders  of  the  strictest  kind  from  Washington. 
Knowing  the  value  of  this  time  which  was  being 
lost,  they  had  again  and  again  protested;  and  had 
sent  emissaries  to  Washington,  too,  but  all  to  no 
avail,  he  added. 

Mr.  Holman,  in  his  brilliant,  comprehending  arti- 
cle, which  will  go  straight  to  the  hearts  of  Russians 
who  read  it,  in  The  World's  Work  for  June,  says: 

"Cut  off  from  Russia  and  western  Europe  by 
the  red  battle-line,  the  Siberian  people  look  mainly 


KOLCHAK  248 

to  America  for  immediate  assistance.  That  assis- 
tance was  promised  them,  on  a  large  scale,  last  Oc- 
tober, by  our  War  Trade  Board,  at  Vladivostok. 
Not  only  were  relief  measures  promised,  but  also  a 
great  loosening  up  of  restrictions  on  the  movement 
of  goods  into  Siberia.  Twenty  thousand  tons  a 
month  of  needed  commodities  were  to  be  sent,  ac- 
cording to  official  telegrams  published  over  the 
signature  of  the  Vladivostok  representative.  De- 
liveries were  to  begin  in  November;  co-operative 
associations  and  reputable  trading  organizations 
were  to  be  dealt  with  fairly.  This  gave  the  Siberian 
population  hope;  but  in  February  it  was  impossible 
to  hear  of  any  shipments  that  had  gone  to  the  in- 
terior of  Manchurian  stations,  except  one  train  of 
about  eight  hundred  tons  of  foodstuffs,  sent  by  our 
government  for  distribution  among  needy  Russian 
railroad  employees,  and  a  few  articles  for  relief  of 
the  sick  and  the  refugees.  Military  supplies  went 
westward  in  increasing  quantities;  but  little  or  noth- 
ing filtered  through  for  the  civil  population  to  buy, 
except  profiteers'  small  shipments.  Are  we  to  keep 
our  promise  ? 

"In  the  present  condition  of  the  country,  success- 
ful operation  of  the  railroad  cannot  be  assured  except 
by  American  soldiers  garrisoning  the  principal  points. 
'I  cannot  assure  the  people  a  good  railroad  system 
without  our  soldiers  to  back  me  up/  said  Mr. 
Stevens  to  me  in  February.  To  turn  the  railroad 
back  to  the  Russians  to  run  just  now  would  prob- 
ably mean  a  complete  breakdown  of  the  whole 


244  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

transportation  question.  That  will  lead  to  the 
downfall  of  Kolchak  and  the  return  to  power  of 
the  Red  Guard  government. 

"To  recall  the  American  soldiers  now  in  Siberia, 
before  the  Russians  have  found  themselves,  will, 
in  my  judgment,  be  a  serious  blow  to  liberalism  in 
that  country;  it  will  be  an  American  sanction  to 
murder  and  anarchy.  If  it  is  right  to  keep  our 
soldiers  there,  they  should  be  sufficiently  strength- 
ened to  banish  the  possibility  of  even  minor  upris- 
ings. It  is  only  the  smallness  of  the  police  forces 
over  there  now  which  makes  a  single  soldier's  life 
unsafe. 

"In  assistance  also  lie  our  national  interests,  for 
we  shall  profit  in  a  commercial  way  by  the  policy; 
but  for  trade  alone  there  could  be  no  legitimate 
ground  for  occupation  and  assistance.  It  is  for  the 
good  of  the  Siberian  people,  just  as  much  as  our 
policy  of  occupation  and  assistance  was  for  the  good 
of  the  Cuban  people;  and  also  is  for  our  own  good. 
It  is  the  law  of  things  that  those  who  do  good  unto 
others  do  good  also  unto  themselves. 

"On  the  Asiatic  side  of  'over  there*  is  a  new  com- 
monwealth longing  to  be  free  of  Bolshevism,  and  a 
people  rapidly  regaining  their  stock  of  common 
sense.  These  people  will  have  in  time  only  the 
friendliest  feelings  for  the  Americans  who  helped 
them  out  of  their  sorrows.  That  friendliness  is  of 
the  good-will  part  of  the  great  international  trade 
that  the  future  has  in  store  for  Siberia.  That  good- 
will means  open  opportunities  for  American  rail- 


KOLCHAK  245 

road  builders,  constructors  of  mines,  builders  of 
industrial  machinery,  grain-elevators,  tanners,  elec- 
tric-power plants,  and  many  other  enterprises. 
That  good-will  means  ready  sale  of  American  ex- 
port products  when  needed,  such  as  agricultural  im- 
plements, woollens,  cotton  goods,  sewing-machines, 
and  toilet  articles.  But  if  we  were  not  to  profit, 
there  is  before  us  the  duty  of  the  big  brother — a  rule 
of  conduct  which  these  days  we  are  applying  to 
Belgium.  Why  not  also  to  Siberia  ? " 

In  confirmation  of  this  opinion  of  Mr.  Holman's 
conies  from  Paris  on  May  26  the  following  telegram: 

"Advices  received  here  report  that  Bolshevik 
strikes  are  greatly  hampering  the  operations  of  the 
Trans-Siberian  Railroad,  on  which  Admiral  Kol- 
chak  is  dependent  for  his  supplies.  These  disorders 
have  been  difficult  to  repress,  and  the  trouble  makes 
the  work  of  the  interallied  railroad  commission 
under  John  S.  Stevens  arduous  and  unpleasant." 

This  is  the  American's  point  of  view,  and  it  is 
echoed  daily  in  my  mail  by  those  who  know  the 
case  and  who  appreciate  the  good  and  noble  cause 
of  the  Omsk  government,  and  what  it  stands  for 
to  all  humanity. 

The  Russian  point  of  view  is  more  difficult  to 
get  at,  for  the  Russians  I  have  seen  and  heard  are 
with  one  accord  going  out  there  to  offer  their  ser- 
vices. Not  one  is  coming  this  way,  or  has  an  opinion 
as  yet  to  express  on  the  American  official  action. 
Each  and  all  speak  highly  of  American  private 
citizens'  efforts  and  their  understanding  of  our  situa- 


246  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

tion.  The  only  way  to  judge  of  Russia's  desires 
is  by  the  fact  that  Kolchak  begs  for  aid;  and  that 
the  Russian  mission  in  Paris  is  doing  likewise  for 
him;  daily  and  with  insistence. 

In  every  branch  of  the  Siberian  Government  there 
is  a  systematic  effort  being  made  to  get  things  into 
shape,  so  that  the  whole  life  of  the  country  can  be 
inaugurated.  Below  the  government,  and  uphold- 
ing it,  the  co-operative  societies,  the  merchants,  the 
farmers,  and  the  manufacturers  are  all  wide  awake 
to  the  fact  that  they  must  reorganize  themselves 
and  reconstruct  a  national  life  from  the  actual  mon- 
strous situation.  They  are  most  patriotic  and  full 
of  good-will,  and  are  flocking  to  Omsk  to  get  the 
opinion  and  instructions  of  the  master  mind  there. 
Kolchak,  always  patient,  always  strong,  and  al- 
ways practical,  receives  each  group  and  sends  it 
back  into  its  distant  province,  determined  to  do  its 
share  in  the  nation's  work,  and  full  of  faith  in  the 
final  success  of  right  and  justice.  .  .  . 

Now  the  military  forces  are  moving  westward 
steadily.  Perm,  Ufa,  Saratoff,  Ekaterinburg,  Oren- 
burg, the  Volga,  much  of  this  has  been  captured  al- 
ready from  the  terrible  red  foe;  and  news  reaches  us 
frequently  of  further  success.  Kolchak  makes  fly- 
ing trips  to  the  fighting  front,  then  in  haste  returns 
to  Omsk  and  negotiates  with  the  Allies,  or  with  the 
various  native  groups  whose  demands  make  his 
presence  there  an  absolute  necessity.  He  shows 
himself  most  liberal  toward  all  parties,  with  par- 
tiality toward  none.  Even  the  Jews,  who  heretofore 


KOLCHAK 


247 


248  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

have  not  been  looked  upon  with  favor  by  Russian 
governments,  gratefully  admit  that  the  ex-admiral's 
ministry  is  without  prejudice;  and  they  send  him 
large  donations  in  money  for  the  defense  of  a  cause 
which  they  feel  promises  a  generous  safeguarding 
of  their  rights  among  others. 

As  his  army  advances,  the  best  elements  of  each 
conquered  province  rally  round  it,  and  Kolchak  pre- 
sides at  conferences  of  industrials  and  peasants,  or 
receives  delegations  of  other  branches  of  Russia's 
people,  counselling  them  to  lose  no  time  in  helping  to 
set  their  country  in  order.  He,  who  was  always 
silent,  tells  the  press  nothing  of  all  this;  but  the  con- 
tented delegations  occasionally  give  their  impres- 
sions, and  they  put  on  record  how  the  admiral 
finds  time  to  think  of  the  problem  of  each  class,  and 
how  he  shows  immense  capacity  in  handling  these 
different  units  so  that  each  will  bring  its  quota  of 
real  strength  to  the  general  building  up. 

For  thousands  of  square  miles  Russia  is  in  a  con- 
dition of  complete  devastation,  with  enforced  stag- 
nation of  work,  famine,  and  misery,  just  as  is  the 
small  area  of  northern  France.  A  crushed,  ex- 
hausted, starving,  bleeding  people  at  home  is  strain- 
ing its  last  remnant  of  strength  to  rise  up  and  to 
live.  Kolchak  is  pulling  his  compatriots  to  their 
feet,  and  they  try  to  stand,  dazed  and  tottering.  .  .  . 
Will  the  world  listen  to  their  cry,  and  will  it  hold 
out  a  helping  hand  ?  Or  will  it  turn  its  head  and 
pass  by  on  the  other  side  ? 

In  Kolchak's  and  the  Paris  mission's  voice,  all 


KOLCHAK  249 

Russians  call  to  the  Peace  Conference  in  Paris  and 
to  Allies  over  the  whole  world.  And  the  latter  an- 
swer what  ?  .  .  . 

They  must  come  to  a  decision  soon,  or  the  Peace 
Conference  will  be  scattered,  leaving  half  the  world 
at  war  and  wounded  still.  Their  line  of  action  is 
unguessed  at,  after  eight  months  of  conversations. 

Kolchak  asks  for  recognition.  Kolchak  prays  for 
help;  help  now,  while  the  giant,  which  is  Russia,  is 
making  a  noble  effort  to  kill  the  whole  world's  enemy, 
the  Bolshevik,  and  to  sweep  him  from  the  earth. 

There  is  much  argument  and  talk.  .  .  .  One  hears 
it  unofficially  declared  that  the  "Big  Four"  in  Paris 
think  of  answering  the  call  and  of  recognizing  con- 
ditionally this  rare  man's  work.  Only  he,  Kol- 
chak, must  consent  to  various  conditions — to  giving 
up  the  power  as  soon  as  he  has  won  the  victory, 
also  to  calling  together  a  constituent  assembly  to 
determine  the  form  of  Russia's  future  government. 
In  this  case,  it  is  reported,  material  help  will  be  given 
to  the  Omsk  All-Russian  government,  to  Denikin, 
and  to  such  other  groups  as  there  may  be  found 
fighting  for  the  same  principles;  this  help,  of  course, 
to  be  paid  for  in  full.  .  .  . 

Kolchak  replies  that  what  every  Russian  wants 
is  the  calling  of  the  constituent  assembly,  promised 
by  the  first  revolutionary  movement,  as  soon  as 
there  is  order  in  the  land.  He  wants  it  most  of 
all,  for  he  is  the  weariest  patriot  of  Russia,  carrying, 
as  he  does,  the  greatest  load  of  responsibility,  doing 
the  heaviest  work.  And  again  he  begs  for  help, 


250  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

all  possible  help,  in  any  form  the  mission  in  Paris 
can  devise  and  the  pity  of  nations  and  individuals 
can  send !  Only  let  it  come  soon,  otherwise  the 
effort  to  conquer  Bolshevism  may  break  down  un- 
der the  strain  of  waiting  and  the  lack  of  arms. 

The  Russian  mission  in  Paris  works  as  one  man 
now.  They  hope,  and  pray,  and  feel  inspired  to 
renewed  energies,  and  every  exiled  Russian  heart 
beats  in  complete  unison  with  theirs.  They  are 
inspired  to  renewed  energy  when  they  hear  that 
Petrograd  may  fall  into  the  hands  of  Russia's  true 
sons  again,  even  though  they  realize  that  proud 
city  may  be  almost  a  cemetery  when  they  enter  it, 
with  famine,  typhus,  and  every  other  human  plague 
rampant ! 

Surely  at  last  the  dawn  of  a  great  day  of  consola- 
tion is  at  hand,  when  Allies  who  have  been  indiffer- 
ent will  understand  that  their  interests  and  their 
own  salvation  depend  in  part  upon  their  charity. 

From  a  member  of  Russia's  mission  in  Paris  a 
letter  comes  to  me,  dated  the  middle  of  May,  in 
which  the  faithful  patriot  says:  "We  have  many  sad 
impressions  in  the  present,  still,  but  great  hopes 
for  the  future.  From  our  Orient  our  help  will  come. 
Behold  Kolchak  and  the  mighty  fighters  round  him, 
how  they  move  forward  as  surely  as  the  sun;  and 
the  Bolsheviki,  perhaps  no  longer  commanded  by 
German  officers,  or  paid  with  German  gold,  go 
down  at  last  before  the  onslaught  of  our  men.  Or 
else  in  masses  .the  pseudo-reds  even  join  Kolchak 's 
armies,  and  turn  their  guns  against  their  own  com- 


KOLCHAK  251 

rades-in- wickedness  of  a  few  hours  before.  Ex  ori- 
entelux!" 

So  on  to  Moscow  the  patriots  move,  and  when 
they  reach  our  ancient  capital,  most  holy  of  all 
Russia's  cities,  they  will  find  many  among  its  pop- 
ulace ready  to  weep  with  joy  and  waiting  to  kneel 
upon  its  streets  with  icons  as  the  crusaders  pass. 
These,  mounting  on  up  toward  the  great  Kremlin's 
gate,  open  again  the  fortress  palace  to  the  whole 
populace.  The  latter  has  been  banished  outside 
its  walls  ever  since  it  was  used  for  barracks  by 
Trotzky's  red  guardsmen,  or  as  a  hoarding  place 
for  stolen  provisions  and  treasures,  which  these 
ruffians  seized;  but  at  last  real  Russians  will  be  at 
home  again,  upon  the  ground  they  always  owned, 
where  even  autocratic  Czars  had  made  them  wel- 
come. 

I  can  see  in  imagination  the  weird  beauty  of  the 
splendid  edifice,  and  feel  the  thrill  of  the  crowd  on 
its  great  square.  The  doors  of  the  cathedral  once 
more  swing  wide  as  of  old,  and  perhaps  the  Patri- 
arch Tikhon  will  appear  upon  its  steps  to  welcome 
his  children,  come  home  at  last.  That  day,  with 
his  devout  people  upon  their  knees,  the  venerable 
head  of  the  church  will  intone  a  "Te  Deum"  such 
as  the  world  has  rarely  heard ! 

While  the  prayers  of  a  whole  race  shall  rise  in 
one  vast  volume  there  will  be  certain  sons  of  Russia 
to  whom  the  nation's  thoughts  must  turn  in  grati- 
tude. 

First  among  these  are  the  martyrs  who  defended 


252  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Russia's  honor  early  against  the  red  terror's  das- 
tardly attacks  and  gave  their  lives  in  the  good 
cause  when  help  and  hope  were  not  forthcoming. 
Then,  the  brave  little  groups  who  kept  the  faith  of 
a  great  race,  and  who  fought  on  against  the  peril 
to  the  death;  as  did  Denikin's  army,  or  Krassnoff  s. 
Also  those  patriots  merit  praise  who  by  thought,  and 
act,  and  word  have  upheld  Russian  interests  in  the 
face  of  indifferent  friend,  or  of  intriguing  foe,  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  Peace  Congress;  who  through  long 
months  of  waiting  and  discouragement  kept  up  our 
hopes,  and  whose  energy  never  once  has  failed  our 
nation.  Last,  but  not  least,  will  the  thanks  of  our 
whole  race  be  due  to  the  group  which  in  Siberia, 
facing  a  thousand  problems,  raised  up  the  sad  and 
tattered  banner  of  Russia  and  brought  it  home  in 
triumph  to  the  mother  city,  Moscow.  Their  strength 
gives  the  final  blow  to  down  the  treacherous  enemy; 
and  at  their  head  the  modest  figure  of  their  leader 
stands  out  as  the  best  type  of  his  people — sailor, 
soldier,  statesman,  and  patriot  above  all — Alexander 
Vasili6vitch  Kolchak. 


VIII 
SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS 

REFUGEE  reserve  officers  in  the  United 
States  are  ordered  to  report  to  the  military 
attache  of  the  Russian  Embassy  at  Wash- 
ington for  duty  at  the  front,"  said  the  American 
newspaper  one  morning  in  May,  1919. 

We  read  this  with  dawning  hope  of  things  doing 
again  at  home.  It  meant  that  the  battle  was  to 
be  renewed  on  a  large  scale,  evidently,  since  till 
now  the  various  groups  fighting  had  been  but  bands 
of  volunteers — around  Kolchak,  Denikin,  and  other 
heroes — who,  struggling  against  terrific  odds,  had 
tried  to  break  up  the  Bolshevik  armies.  Now  since 
it  was  thought  necessary  to  bring  back  the  men 
(who  for  one  or  another  reason  had  gone  across  the 
seas),  one  could  consider  it  certain  that  new  armies 
were  being  raised  and  trained  for  service,  and  that 
this  call  was  to  get  back  all  the  valuable  material 
which  Bolshevism  and  its  persecutions  had  scattered 
broadcast  over  the  whole  world. 

Rapidly  the  officers  gathered  into  little  groups,  re- 
ported for  their  orders,  and  then  turned  their  steps 
either  toward  Siberia,  toward  the  Black  Sea,  or  to 
the  north  of  Russia.  Wives  were  brave  over  the 
partings  and  looked  for  work,  which  would  support 
them  in  exile;  or  else,  braver  still,  they  prepared  to 

253 


254  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

go  out  to  the  home  country  again  and  take  up  their 
share  of  the  husbands'  burdens.  It  was  a  difficult 
choice  for  many  women — either  way  the  risks  and 
responsibilities  were  heavy,  and  the  future  was  im- 
possible to  foresee.  Sad  faces  and  weighted  hearts 
were  the  rule  in  the  Russian  colony. 

My  own  husband,  though  outside  the  classes  re- 
called to  service  because  of  his  age,  and  supposedly 
out  of  commission  because  of  his  old  wound  (which 
still  greatly  and  frequently  troubled  him),  became 
so  interested  in  the  movement  and  the  possibility 
of  being  useful  that  he  decided  to  volunteer  again. 
His  first  application  was  to  the  Russian  mission  in 
Paris  for  information  as  to  where  the  experts  there 
would  consider  it  best  for  him  to  go,  and  at  once  he 
received  an  answer  begging  him  to  give  his  effort 
to  the  Siberian  side,  where  there  were  many  sol- 
diers to  be  put  in  shape  and  few  officers  to  do  it, 
whereas  on  other  fronts  there  were  plenty  of  good 
officers  already.  So  it  came  about  that  a  letter 
was  written  to  Kolchak,  giving  Cantacuzene's  past 
history  and  asking  if  the  supreme  commander  of 
the  "All-Russian  provisional  government"  would 
accept  my  husband's  services  in  any  capacity, 
civil  or  military.  In  about  six  weeks  an  answer 
came  from  Omsk,  laconic  and  to  the  point:  "Come 
at  once.*'  Two  or  three  weeks  for  the  making  of 
an  outfit,  and  the  necessary  time  wasted  in  trying 
to  get  accommodations  on  the  earliest  possible 
ship,  then  finally  all  was  ready.  Good-bys  as 
little  sad  as  possible  to  the  children,  and  we  moved 


SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS  255 

Westward.  On  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan  a  last 
quiet  week  of  sunny  days  and  of  nights  soft  still 
with  the  final  warmth  of  the  summer's  flame  was 
spent,  a  gentle  time  when  the  soul  could  get  its 
balance  and  grow  stronger  to  face  new  dangers — of 
which  one  knew  no  detail  yet  but  only  felt  the 
weight. 

Days  difficult  to  live,  for  we  forgot  the  perils  just 
ahead  and  laughed  sometimes,  and  then  suddenly 
the  vision  of  what  threatened  left  us  with  a  sud- 
den sob,  caught  in  the  throat  and  stopped. 

The  last  day  and  the  last  hour,  and  each  played 
up  for  the  other — striving  for  self-possession  and 
summoning  a  smile  to  meet  a  traveller's  last  look 
backward.  Then  for  the  officer  the  long  trip  West- 
ward, the  three  or  four  days'  wait  at  Vancouver 
for  his  ship's  departure.  Finally  the  heterogeneous 
baggage  thrown  on  board,  sorted  and  put  in  safety 
for  the  long  sea  trip. 

Telegrams  of  adieus,  bells  and  whistles  and 
shouted  orders,  and  the  vessel  was  off,  separating 
our  fighter  more  and  more  from  the  shore,  which 
for  some  time  past  had  been  a  safe  refuge. 

The  long  trip  across  the  ocean  is  intensely  mo- 
notonous and  very  wearing,  especially  for  the  nerves 
of  those  going  into  the  maelstrom  of  the  Siberian 
struggle.  There  are  many  long  hours  in  which  to 
wonder  over  the  fate  awaiting  such  as  are  brave 
enough  to  offer  their  service  and  perhaps  their  lives 
on  the  altar  of  patriotism. 

The  rough  sea,  high  wind,  and  creaking  ship  are 


256  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

not  conducive  to  a  cheerful  outlook,  and  those  on 
board  were  seasick  and  easily  discouraged.  Seven- 
teen weary  days  were  thus  lived  through,  while  one 
was  tossing  uncomfortably  and  straining  for  a  men- 
tal glimpse  of  the  future.  English  officers,  Cana- 
dian tradesmen,  Japanese  and  Chinese  merchants, 
also  a  very  few  Americans,  with  a  half-dozen  or  so 
Russians  going  back  to  serve — a  great  many  vague 
second-rate  adventurers — such  made  up  the  com- 
pany on  board.  The  Russian  and  the  English  offi- 
cers naturally  drew  together  soon  after  the  ship 
sailed,  and  formed  a  little  circle  to  themselves  dur- 
ing the  trip,  where  conversation  ranged  on  politi- 
cal or  on  military  matters,  and  advice  was  offered 
back  and  forth  as  to  conditions  which  had  to  be 
met  and  precautions  which  had  to  be  taken  against 
dangers  of  every  kind,  from  Siberian  cold  and  lack 
of  food  to  political  intrigue  among  allies  and  Bol- 
shevik murder  and  torture. 

The  ship  Empress  of  Japan  at  last  drew  near  to 
Yokohama's  harbor,  and  piles  of  nondescript  luggage 
appeared  on  deck:  saddles,  canned  food,  string  bags; 
smart  officers'  khaki-colored  trunks  and  bags  of 
leather  for  the  Britishers,  of  patched  canvas  or 
wood  for  the  poorer  Russians. 

Japan,  usually  renowned  for  flowers  and  sunshine, 
seemed  as  gloomy  as  the  travellers'  hearts.  It  was 
drizzling,  cold,  slippery;  altogether  disagreeable — 
and  the  small  group  of  wayfarers  were  chilled  to 
the  bone  while  they  fought  to  get  their  baggage  off 
the  ship  and  through  the  custom-house. 


SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS  257 

The  hotel  was  pleasanter:  good  beds  and  food 
made  one  forget  the  worst  sides  of  the  errand  one 
had  come  on,  while  a  steady  floor  and  dry  clothes 
helped  to  better  impressions  of  the  future  and 
surroundings.  The  town  proved  to  be  unattractive, 
so  at  least  my  husband  felt  as  he  wandered  over 
the  stone  pavements  and  peered  about:  a  small, 
dark,  greasy-looking  people  in  dirty  kimonos  came 
and  went  in  an  endless  crowd,  perched  high  on 
wooden  sandals  which  clapped,  clapped  with  a 
staccato  note  on  the  stones.  The  noise  of  their 
walking  pervaded  the  air,  and  one  couldn't  escape 
it  night  or  day — and  the  queer,  pungent  smell  of 
the  Orient  helped  to  make  up  an  impression  of  a 
strange  new  world.  The  flimsy  houses  seemed  un- 
attractive, overcrowded,  dirty;  and  the  convey- 
ances uncomfortable.  Altogether  discouragement 
grew  as  time  progressed.  Only  one  thing  seemed 
consoling  and  that  only  if  one  was  fond  of  shop- 
ping. The  silk,  shops  were  a  delight.  Color,  qual- 
ity, beauty  of  design,  all  splendid,  as  the  material 
fell  into  graceful  folds,  iridescent  almost,  with  the 
richness  of  their  glossy  sheen.  One  hesitated  what 
to  choose;  one  wanted  everything;  and  one  ended 
by  buying  twice  as  much  as  planned,  because  the 
polite  shopman,  anxious  to  please  and  to  tempt, 
bewildered  his  victim  into  dumb  acquiescence. 

The  dull,  damp  chill  continued  in  the  air  and  ate 
into  the  vitals,  or  perhaps  it  was  the  feeling  that 
one  was  moving  farther  away  from  those  one  cared 
for  and  from  a  warm  fireplace  which  was  next  best 


258  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

to  home,  going  out  into  a  world  of  misery  on  a 
crusade,  led  by  a  lone  hope  and  a  single  purpose — 
duty.  Patriotism  in  such  a  case  seemed  a  dull 
principle  and  required  a  great  effort. 

Our  officers  knew  a  thrill  in  entering  East  Prussia, 
or  Galicia  and  Hungary,  in  1914;  and  they  still  felt 
it  when  they  and  their  men  slowly  moved  back  again 
in  1915,  contesting  every  inch  of  the  ground  they 
were  defending.  It  took  enthusiasm  also  in  1916 
to  hold  the  lines  straight  and  even  take  an  offensive 
against  the  enemy's  full  strength.  In  the  months 
of  revolutionary  times  officers  still  tried  to  rally 
their  soldiers,  and  when  the  latter  obeyed  it  was 
only  for  love  of  leaders  who  gallantly  continued  to 
fight  the  Germans  before  them,  the  indiscipline 
about  them,  and  the  propagandists  behind  them. 
Now  it  required  a  new  building  up  of  their  brave 
spirit  to  go  in  cold  blood  back  into  the  fight  after 
months  of  exile  and  soft  living — the  mere  thought 
of  the  sights  and  troubles  of  Siberia  made  them 
shiver  in  painful  anticipations. 

A  trip  to  Tokio  for  papers  and  passports,  of  which 
apparently  one  never  has  enough,  and  which  are 
never  sufficiently  vis6d.  There  Cantacuzene  saw  a 
quantity  of  interesting  people — some  stationary, 
some  the  driftwood  carried  hither  and  thither  on  the 
current  of  travel.  Every  one  had  news  to  tell — the 
most  varied,  exciting,  contradictory  news.  Always 
positive  of  the  truth  of  each  announcement,  the  au- 
thors, if  doubted,  but  repeated  it  the  more  em- 
phatically and  the  louder. 


SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS  259 

What  the  head  of  every  government  in  the  world 
ought  to  do,  what  each  of  these  would  not  do,  and 
what  each  would,  was  told  by  the  ambassadors  and 
secretaries  of  the  others.  Then  there  were  the  im- 
pressions of  all  the  floating  population  of  travellers, 
those  going  to  Siberia  and  those  coming  out.  Ev- 
ery man  saw  things  differently,  and  the  most  amaz- 
ing part  of  it  was  how  little  each  had  seen  or  knew 
really  of  the  country  for  which  he  was  so  positively 
recommending  policies. 

Unfortunately,  Russia  was  not  represented  at  its 
best  by  the  Russian  group  in  Tokio.  Adventurers, 
deserters,  refugees,  vague,  frightened  diplomats,  who 
had  not  been  able  to  hold  their  own.  The  entire 
mass  lacked  cohesion  and  a  head.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  were  warm  friends  to  Russia  to  be  found — 
men  and  women  who  were  helping  and  guiding,  en- 
trying  to  work  up  the  world's  sympathy.  Mr. 
Roland  Morris,  the  American  Ambassador,  was  one 
of  the  leaders  in  this.  Amiable,  hospitable,  and 
giving  an  impression  of  reliability,  he  gladly  re- 
ceived such  people  as  came  to  him  for  some  small 
passport  services.  My  husband  saw  him  thus,  and, 
having  letters  from  mutual  friends  besides  and 
many  interests  in  common,  the  two  men  sat  talk- 
ing lengthily.  Cantacuzene  stayed  on  to  lunch, 
glad  to  get  points  from  this  man  who  so  recently 
had  gone  into  Siberia  quite  anti-Kolchak,  and  had 
returned,  after  untrammelled  investigations  cover- 
ing many  weeks,  to  report  to  President  Wilson  that 
the  "All-Russian"  government  should  be  recognized 


260  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

at  once,  also  supported  and  upheld  in  every  possible 
manner.  A  pleasant  message,  this,  to  Russian  ears, 
even  if  it  had  borne  no  fruit.  The  good  opinion  of 
Kolchak  was  unanimous  in  the  East  among  those 
who  watched  him;  and  the  splendid  fight  he  had 
put  up  against  Bolshevism  was  universally  admired, 
as  was  the  way  he  had  handled  the  complications 
made  for  him  by  conflicting  political  groups  in 
Omsk,  the  intriguing  personalities  in  his  staff  and 
government,  and  the  troubles  brought  on  by  the 
hesitations  and  rivalries  of  our  allies,  each  of  whom 
had  given  small  help  but  much  advice.  As  one  ap- 
proached, the  personality  of  this  remarkable  man 
dominated  the  horizon  more  and  more,  and  com- 
manded a  respect,  esteem,  and  admiration  which 
seem  universal. 

Curiosity  augmented  and  when  the  embarkation 
for  Vladivostok  occurred  there  was  excitement 
mixed  with  fears  and  doubts.  The  sun  came  out 
just  then.  A  good  sign  this ! 

As  the  ship  steamed  into  Vladivostok's  harbor 
every  one  went  on  deck,  firstly  to  get  a  glimpse  of 
the  homeland  for  which  one  was  hungry  after  eigh- 
teen months  of  expatriation.  However  much  they 
feared  to  find  it  changed,  to  see  the  poverty  and 
misery  of  these  sad  times,  still  it  was  good  to  think 
of  hearing  our  language,  of  seeing  the  familiar  types 
again.  Even  to  eat  a  "borsh"  or  "shtchee"  with 
a  salted  cucumber  and  black  bread  will  seem  an 
act  of  patriotism.  None  of  the  party  of  officers 
on  board  had  ever  been  this  side  of  the  empire  be- 


SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS  261 

fore.  All  had  done  their  fighting  on  the  European 
front,  so  curiosity  was  keen,  and  with  wide-awake 
eyes  they  took  in  the  impressive  beauty  of  the  great 
harbor  they  were  entering.  It  appeared  more 
beautiful  than  that  of  Vancouver,  higher  mountains 
rising  out  of  the  sea,  and  the  stretch  of  water  much 
broader.  The  towering  banks  are  arid  and  have  a 
severer  type  of  beauty,  but  the  proportions  and  lines 
are  altogether  splendid,  and  the  coloring  that  day 
was  brilliant  with  azure,  russet,  and  gold,  the  light 
over  it  all  intense.  Suddenly  from  the  inner  har- 
bor came  a  boat  to  meet  the  one  carrying  our  men; 
a  Russian  Government  boat,  looking  trim  and  smart 
and  flying  at  its  stern  the  "flag  of  St.  Andrew." 
It  brought  one's  heart  into  one's  mouth  to  see  the 
Russian  colors  once  more  in  their  place  !  Eighteen 
months  ago  we  had  left  Petrograd  draped  with  torn 
and  soiled  red  banners.  This  now  really  seemed  to 
my  husband  a  promise  of  new  strength;  would  the 
impression  last?  The  pretty  craft  came  up  close 
and  our  officers  crowded  to  the  side  of  their  own 
steamer  to  watch  the  welcomers'  manoeuvres.  Both 
ships  stopped  and  officials  from  the  smaller  one 
climbed  on  board  the  larger  to  ask  questions  of  each 
traveller,  to  examine  papers,  search  for  a  reported 
Bolshevik  (who  naturally  was  not  forthcoming), 
finally  to  approve  of  everything  and  take  themselves 
off  again.  The  dock  was  reached  soon  afterward. 
With  shouts,  excitement,  good-natured  confusion,  a 
hundred  orders,  and  little  obedience,  but  endless 
intelligent  emergency  work,  a  landing  was  made. 


262  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Every  one  was  ready  to  lend  a  hand  to  strangers. 
Chaos  apparently,  but  results  that  were  unexpect- 
edly quick  and  satisfactory  in  spite  of  it.  Paradox 
everywhere — Russia,  in  short,  with  its  old  nature, 
and  ways,  and  mystery,  untouched  by  the  experi- 
ences of  the  past  two  years.  And  one  felt  warm 
and  at  home  somehow. 

It  was  said  there  were  no  "izvostchiki"  (cabbies) ; 
then  one  was  immediately  found.  It  was  said  there 
were  no  rooms,  but  a  man  to  whom  one  came  recom- 
mended, offered  hospitality.  A  cosey  small  room  it 
was,  with  clean  bed  and  dry  bedclothes — the  possi- 
bility of  sleeping,  washing,  smoking,  and  of  drinking 
with  him  his  morning  tea  was  offered  Cantacuzene. 

The  other  meals  he  took  out — paying  forty-five 
roubles  for  a  light  lunch  and  seventy-five  roubles 
for  one  dish  in  the  evening !  He  was  sustaining 
his  second  shock — having  been  given  the  first  when 
cabby  asked  one  hundred  and  fifty  roubles  for  driv- 
ing him  from  the  dock  to  the  house  and  expected  to 
get  it.  People  had  told  our  men  of  the  terrible 
prices,  but  it  was  hard  to  believe  such  tales — now 
they  began  to  digest  the  unpleasant  idea  that  money 
had  no  value  and  that  they  would  probably  be  forced 
to  buy  a  flour-sack  and  stuff  it  full  of  bills,  which 
would  be  handed  out  rapidly.  And  the  variety  of 
the  money !  Every  kind  of  foreign  note  and  coin — 
then  paper  of  several  sorts :  old-r6gime  and  K6rensky 
money,  besides  all  the  kinds  used  in  Siberia.  One  is 
easily  "money  poor"  instead  of  "land  poor"  in  such 
a  place. 


SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS  263 

They  lunched  and  dined  in  a  tumble-down,  small, 
and  expensive  restaurant;  they  sat  and  smoked  and 
thought,  listening  to  the  strains  of  a  marvellous 
string  orchestra  made  up  of  Hungarians.  Ex- 
prisoners  of  war,  these  were  now  freed,  but  had 
no  means  nor  hope  of  going  anywhere.  They  could 
only  earn  a  little  and  life  cost  much;  exchange  was 
prohibitive,  and  the  distance  to  their  home  was  vast. 
So,  stranded  here  in  a  Far-Eastern  cabaret,  this 
band  of  ex-prisoners  played  out  its  sufferings  and  its 
longings  to  an  appreciative  and  enthusiastic  audience 
of  sad,  understanding  Slavs,  who  would  gladly  aid 
the  poor  artists  if  they  could. 

For  a  day  or  two  Cantacuzene  sat  about,  wait- 
ing to  get  passage  by  the  occasional  train  leaving 
for  the  front.  He  tried  to  readjust  himself  and  get 
the  atmosphere,  he  listened  to  the  gossip  which 
flowed  toward  him  in  never-ending  volumes.  Vla- 
divostok teemed  with  foreigners,  mostly  Allies  who 
had  been  sitting  miserably  about  for  months  wait- 
ing for  orders  to  do  something  worth  while.  Mean- 
time they  were  trying  to  kill  time.  The  weary 
hours  lagged  dreadfully  while  they  sat  and  looked 
on,  forbidden  to  lend  a  hand !  Mischief  was  rife,  of 
course,  and  Vladivostok,  since  the  Allies'  occupation, 
vies  with  Port  Said  in  its  unsavory  reputation—mixed 
races,  bad  morals — the  worst  of  the  East  and  the 
West — and  in  such  an  atmosphere  every  one  degen- 
erated. Queer  tales  of  misery  and  of  crime  were 
told.  The  only  name  unsullied  by  rumor  was  Kol- 
chak's  own.  No  one  but  admitted  his  honesty, 


264  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

loyalty,  devotion,  patriotism.  Unambitious  for  any 
recompense,  either  in  money  or  position,  anxious 
only  to  down  Bolshevism,  then  retire  somewhere 
and  rest;  at  his  post,  above  all  intrigue  and  all 
smallness,  strong  and  brave  he  is  always. 

As  for  the  foreigners,  one  heard  a  lot  against 
them,  strangely  enough  more  especially  against  the 
Americans,  who  only  ten  months  ago  were  landed 
here,  and  were  received  with  open  arms  as  sa- 
viors and  friends.  One  was  filled  with  wonder  that 
it  should  be  so,  for  in  old  days  Americans  and 
Russians  have  always  fraternized  and  understood 
each  other.  Then,  listening  carefully  and  sifting 
down  the  many  detailed  stories,  one  found  the  gist 
to  be  about  as  follows. 

Nearly  a  year  ago,  with  many  promises,  great 
show  of  friendship,  and  fair  official  words,  came  the 
American  soldiers.  They  were  received  with  simple 
faith  in  their  message  and  intentions,  and  they 
started  toward  the  front  "to  help."  At  once  almost 
the  counter-order  came  to  them,  and  back  to  Vladi- 
vostok they  were  obliged  to  retire,  to  settle  down 
and  cross  their  arms.  Since  then,  whenever  they 
were  asked  to  act  in  any  matter,  they  have  replied 
that  their  strict  orders  were  "not  to  interfere."  His 
own  situation  riled  the  dough-boy,  humiliated  the 
American  officer,  too;  some  tried  to  explain  what 
they  themselves  couldn't  understand:  the  contra- 
dictory policy  of  Washington  and  their  own  obliga- 
tory inertia;  others  tried  to  cover  their  shame  with 
peevishness  or  arrogance,  and  hurt  the  natives'  feel- 


SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS  265 

ings  doing  it.  The  American  salary  in  dollars,  of 
course,  could  outbuy  poor  Russian  roubles  every 
time.  Whether  of  girls  or  clothes  or  food,  the  best 
went  to  the  Americans,  while  the  Russians  were  dis- 
dained, till  pride  rose  in  rebellion.  High  words 
followed  and  sometimes  blows,  and  hard  feeling  be- 
came a  settled  fact.  The  situation  in  its  new  form 
was  encouraged  by  third  parties,  especially  by  the 
Japanese,  and  nothing  was  done  to  soften  matters 
by  any  one.  American  onlookers  as  well  as  Russians 

told  that  many  of  General  G 's  words  and  deeds 

seemed  unfortunate,  and  that  his  Chief -of -Staff , , 

took  apparently  every  occasion  to  do  the  wrong 
thing  and  to  add  insult  to  injury.  Various  Britishers 
confirmed  this  view  with  their  testimony. 

Through  all  the  growing  discord,  however,  even 
now,  the  American  Red  Cross  personnel  has  acted 
in  a  way  to  win  universal  love,  gratitude,  and  ad- 
miration from  the  wounded,  the  ill,  and  the  poor 
refugees.  The  officials,  doctors,  and  nurses  have 
gone  about  like  ministering  angels,  saving  Russians 
from  death  and  misery  as  much  as  possible;  doing 
their  own  and  every  other  person's  work,  raising 
hope,  sustaining  life,  trying  to  bring  back  health 
and  a  smile  to  vague,  emaciated  bodies  and  wan 
faces.  The  testimony  was  universal,  enthusiasm 
never  failed  whenever  this  name  of  the  American 
Red  Cross  was  mentioned.  For  some  unknown 
reason  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  agents  are  not  spoken  of  in 
the  same  tone.  It  is  said  many  of  these  were  en- 
gaged by  the  society  which  they  represented  among 


266  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Siberians  of  the  worst  classes,  and  that  mainly  they 
wore  German  names  and  sported  German  manners. 
Several  people  told  my  husband  it  was  largely  this 
group  who  had  created  the  prejudice  against  the 
American  Allies  by  their  pretensions  and  brutalities, 
which  real  Americans  were  deploring  or  trying  to 
fight. 

Now  and  again  one  heard  wild  talk  among  the 
Russians  in  Vladivostok,  of  the  possibility  of  an 
uprising  and  the  massacre  of  all  foreigners,  except 
the  Japanese,  who  were  obsequious  and  smooth, 
always  vastly  polite,  and  who  behaved  toward  the 
Russian  with  a  circumspection  and  tact  amounting 
to  genius. 

After  two  days  in  Vladivostok  my  husband  left 
for  the  front,  and  as  he  was  starting  he  had  occasion 
to  test  the  temper  of  the  people.  A  Polish  military 
doctor  pushed  into  the  line  of  people  who  were  wait- 
ing for  tickets  in  the  station,  and  took  the  place 
ahead  of  Cantacuz£ne.  The  latter  at  once  pro- 
tested energetically,  and  after  some  language  the 
man  stepped  out  of  the  way,  only  to  shove  himself 
into  the  line  again  just  behind  my  husband.  This 
was  not  tolerated  of  course  by  the  crowd  who,  roused 
by  the  second  attempt  at  usurping  a  good  place, 
battered  the  culprit  about  a  bit.  He  humbly  con- 
sented to  go  down  to  the  end  of  the  line,  whereupon 
patience  returned  as  if  by  magic  to  the  little  group  of 
Russians  who  had  been  waiting  for  their  tickets 
so  quietly  before  the  incident. 

The  train  was  delayed  two  days  in  Vladivostok 


SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS  267 

after  it  was  loaded,  by  what  were  announced  as 
"bandit  disorders  ahead.'*  No  one  seemed  to  be 
able  to  offer  a  clearer  explanation  of  the  immobility, 
and,  with  an  indifference  characteristic  of  the  times 
and  place,  the  passengers  tolerated  waiting  without 
much  protest. 

Rumors  announced  Omsk  was  being  evacuated; 
but  no  one  believed  it.  It  had  been  too  frequently 
said  before  to  be  treated  as  serious  news.  They 
started  at  last.  As  far  as  Irkoutsk  the  Trans-Sibe- 
rian road  was  well  guarded,  and  quite  well  ordered. 
It  ran  through  Semenoff  s  province,  and  one  had 
glimpses  of  capable  discipline  everywhere  in  the 
country  commanded  by  him.  It  seems  he  exacted 
respect  for  his  army,  and  that  the  church  should  be 
honored,  too,  and  through  all  this  large  tract  the 
villages  looked  fairly  prosperous  and  the  prices  of 
necessities  were  comparatively  lower  than  elsewhere. 
There  were  rich  pastures,  and  on  them  cattle,  some- 
times rather  unexpectedly  fine  animals  were  to  be 
seen,  and  one  heard  there  were  rich  mines  of  coal  and 
metals  in  this  province;  even  gold  in  large  quantities. 
While  on  the  road,  among  other  savory  bits  of  gossip, 
it  was  said  that  the  Tcheque,  General  Gaida,  had 
been  paid  seventy-five  thousand  francs  to  leave  the 
country,  as  he  was  giving  much  trouble.  He  had 
accepted  the  proposition,  left  Omsk  for  Vladivostok, 
and,  reaching  the  latter  city,  decided  to  remain  on 
his  train  and  bargain  further.  He  wasn't  very  suc- 
cessful at  it,  and  (from  "pique,"  perhaps)  he  then 
headed  the  upheaval  which  shook  political  conditions 


268  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

at  the  port,  and  which  puzzled  those  who  looked  on 
from  far  away. 

When  our  officers  reached  Irkoutsk  they  were  told 
officially  of  the  evacuation  of  Omsk,  and  there  the 
train  passengers  were  sorted  out.  Only  people  actu- 
ally going  forward  on  government  or  army  business 
were  allowed  to  continue  their  travel;  the  others 
were  kept  at  Irkoutsk.  From  this  city  to  Omsk 
was  another  week  on  the  train. 

The  cities  seemed  large  and  rich  through  this 
district  in  ordinary  times.  Now  they  were  over- 
crowded, and  gave  the  impression  of  possessing  quan- 
tities of  inhabitants  who,  living  in  box  cars  all  along 
the  railroad,  and  around  the  stations,  had  only 
such  comfort  of  fuel,  food,  and  clothing  as  they 
could  manage  to  gather  by  their  own  means,  fair 
or  foul.  The  cities'  ancient  commerce  was  being 
strangled — clothes,  provisions,  and  transportation 
were  frightfully  needed.  Often  there  were  thirty 
or  more  people  living  in  one  car,  and  the  small  stove 
in  the  centre  burned  those  who  were  near  and  left 
such  as  were  out  of  range  to  freeze.  The  car  in- 
habitants ran  out  for  wood,  and  brought  back  in 
triumph  whatever  was  handy:  ties  from  the  road- 
bed, broken  boards  from  the  snow-shields  put  up 
to  protect  the  line,  rough,  broken  bits  of  cars  or 
houses,  also.  Food  was  accidental  and  very  short 
always.  Anything  eatable  could  command  fabulous 
prices.  The  trains  moved  with  difficulty  on  the 
congested  rails,  where  complications  were  vastly  in- 
creased by  the  constant  changing  of  the  commands 


SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS  269 

along  the  road.  The  seizing  of  locomotives  by  a 
powerful  factor  was  terrible;  and  the  Tchequo- 
Slovaks  had  made  holding  up  the  outgoing  army 
trains,  and  also  the  retreating  refugee  trains,  one 
of  their  chief  occupations  and  sports.  They  had 
constantly  hindered  the  possible  rapidity  with  which 
our  troops  could  be  carried  forward  and  the  effi- 
ciency with  which  evacuation  of  the  civilian  popula- 
tion could  be  accomplished. 

There  is  much  illness  among  the  city  inhabitants, 
and  especially  illness  reigns  in  these  floating  crowds 
along  the  Trans-Siberian  road. 

The  train  on  which  my  husband  was  seemed  clean, 
however,  and  possessed  a  fair  supply  of  food  sold  at 
fabulous  prices.  It  was  a  train  used  by  the  foreign 
missions  usually,  and  was  the  best  to  be  found.  The 
management  of  this  train  and  of  the  road  seemed 
fair,  but  the  occupants  were  kept  constantly  ex- 
cited by  the  reports  of  there  being  bandits  ahead, 
who  would  probably  stop  further  progress. 

Approaching  Omsk  one  met  many  a  train  of  poor, 
hopeless,  helpless  refugees;  who,  with  pinched,  sad 
faces  and  emaciated  bodies,  moved  in  a  great 
stream  from  their  small  homes  at  Omsk  backward 
toward  Irkoutsk.  It  had  been  long  days,  and 
weeks,  and  months,  since  these  people  had  known 
the  taste  of  good  food  or  had  felt  real  comfort;  and 
as  one  saw  misery  in  so  many  pairs  of  eyes,  one  reg- 
istered a  vow  to  help  them  with  all  one's  possibili- 
ties. In  vain  trying,  however,  unless  one  goes 
beyond  the  frontiers  for  the  help.  Siberia  is  too 


270  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

worn  out.  Presently,  when  Omsk  was  reached, 
came  "official"  news  of  the  evacuation  taking  place, 
and  the  English  officers  talked  of  the  dangers  which 
all  would  soon  be  running  in  Omsk  and  its  environs 
— let  alone  those  of  the  firing  line. 

At  Omsk  no  food,  no  comforts;  complete  conges- 
tion, while  the  price  of  living  was  so  appalling  one 
bought  nothing.  And  there  was  nothing  to  be  found, 
really,  in  the  shops.  The  single  track  of  the  Trans- 
Siberian  road  had  often  in  its  history  played  tricks 
on  us  Russians.  Now  in  the  dire  need  of  evacua- 
tion time,  everybody  did  his  best,  but  the  Tcheques 
were  more  experienced,  better  armed,  and  stronger, 
and  they  carried  out  terrible  raids  on  trains  and 
travellers. 

Immediately  on  his  arrival  Cantacuz£ne  reported 
to  Kolchak.  An  appointment  was  made  for  early 
the  following  morning — and  the  evening  was  free 
to  unpack,  settle,  and  look  around.  The  hotel  was 
horrid — could  give  only  an  ill-kept  room  ten  by 
twelve  feet  with  almost  no  furniture,  and  that 
broken  and  dirty.  The  whole  on  the  "Grasnaia 
ulitza"  (dirty  street)  a  most  becoming  and  appro- 
priate name.  One  hoped  and  prayed  not  to  stay 
long  in  Omsk ! 

The  interview  with  Kolchak  made  a  great  impres- 
sion on  my  husband.  The  admiral  was  finishing  his 
coffee,  while  looking  out  of  the  window,  and  he  put 
Cantacuzene  down  opposite  him.  He  was  uncom- 
monly nice  to  one  whom  he  felt  to  be  understanding, 
perhaps,  of  his  habits  and  life.  He  complained  of 


SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS  271 

the  Allies,  also  of  the  Bolsheviki,  who  were  fighting 
with  extra  ''punch"  just  then. 

The  reds  had  put  their  Chinese  mercenary  troops 
in  the  front  lines  of  the  Bolshevik  army,  had  prom- 
ised to  let  them  rush  through  our  loyal  lines,  and 
then  give  them  a  rest  and  some  recreation  among 
their  own  people.  All  this  was  a  great  incentive, 
naturally,  to  move  forward.  The  looting,  the  mur- 
ders, and  torturing  counted  for  little  therefore  as 
compared  with  the  asset  of  pushing  out  of  Siberia 
and  carrying  the  madness  into  the  Chinese  Republic. 
If  this  policy  succeeds — God  knows  what  may  occur ! 
Kolchak  said  he  wished  to  appeal  to  America, 
that  by  his  clamorings  he  had  hoped  to  bring  help 
in  material  forms  at  least:  food,  clothes,  medicines, 
ammunitions,  and  arms.  "It  will  help  the  Ameri- 
cans themselves  to  aid  us,"  he  announced,  "for 
Bolshevism  is  the  whole  world's  enemy;  and  espe- 
cially that  of  a  democracy  such  as  the  American 
Government  is.  The  necessity  of  the  civilized  world 
hanging  together  as  against  red  doctrines  is  obvi- 


ous." 


Kolchak  soon  had  another  caller  come  for  orders, 
and  my  husband  had  time  to  look  about.  The  Ad- 
miral lived  in  a  tiny  house,  quite  unpretentious  in 
its  arrangements,  and  only  the  two  sentinels  at  the 
door  marked  it,  or  suggested  his  rank.  The  "su- 
preme commander"  had  no  visible  servants  besides 
his  "striker,"  who  waited  on  him  without  the  least 
ceremony  or  formality.  Not  a  sign  of  any  luxury. 
His  work  hours  were  from  10  A.  M.  to  4  the  next 


272  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

morning,  and  all  day  long  he  bore  the  intense  strain 
of  people  constantly  coming  and  going  for  orders  or 
consultation.  Never  a  moment  to  himself  did  he 
take.  He  lived  quietly  with  his  aides-de-camp,  of 
whom  he  had  several  on  duty. 

Personally  he  gave  an  impression  of  enormous 
strength  as  one  met  him,  or  as  he  sat  talking  at  his 
desk,  leaning  forward  slightly  in  his  intensity.  The 
rather  large  square  head,  face,  and  shoulders  im- 
pressed one  with  the  man's  complete  reliability. 
The  eyes  and  hands  were  remarkably  fine.  Though 
impulsive  and  quick  in  manner  and  articulation,  he 
could  be  very  silent,  and  was  so  while  listening. 
He  had  great  magnetism — all  the  qualities  and  de- 
fects, in  fact,  of  a  man  who  is  very  big:  honest,  loyal, 
patriotic,  with  not  the  least  desire  to  save  himself 
from  trouble,  danger,  or  responsibility.  Always 
ready  to  die,  and  asking  nothing  but  to  go  on  fight- 
ing Bolsheviki  until  the  end — either  his  own  end  or 
theirs.  It  was  his  one  ambition  and  policy. 

The  men  around  Kolchak  were  those  whom  he 
had  found  on  the  spot,  or  those  chosen  and  sent  to 
him  by  others.  They  also  were  willing  to  go  and 
join  in  his  effort,  living  in  danger  and  discomfort. 
There  were  six  of  these  men  more  or  less  prominent, 
who  were  Vologodsky,  Smyrnoff,  Sukine,  Handjine, 
Pepelaieff,  Tretiakoff. 

The  first  of  these  held  the  title  of  President  of 
the  Council  of  Ministers,  was  a  " social-revolution- 
ary "  Siberian,  an  ex-lawyer  of  Tomsk,  aged  about 
fifty,  and  was  considered  honest.  He  had  the  dis- 


SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS  273 

advantage  of  being  more  of  a  talker  and  less  efficient 
than  would  be  desirable  in  times  like  these. 

Sukine,  who  was  the  representative  of  Sazonoff 
near  Kolchak,  and  Acting  Foreign  Minister,  was 
clever,  though  somewhat  too  arrogant  to  be  pop- 
ular; and  he  was  also  accused  by  many  of  being 
unscrupulous.  He  was  very  pro-American. 

Smyrnoff,  Minister  of  Marine,  was  an  honest 
man,  a  professional  seaman,  loyally  devoted  to 
Kolchak,  with  no  interest  in  politics  at  all  and  no 
special  following.  Handiine,  Minister  of  War,  had 
not  been  a  success  as  commander  of  an  army,  and 
seemed  a  vague  but  amiable  quantity  who  left 
those  under  him  to  do  as  they  pleased.  Tretiakoff , 
a  product  of  civilized  life  in  Moscow  and  Paris,  as 
Minister  of  Commerce,  played  an  effaced  r61e,  but 
was  considered  to  have  brilliant  possibilities  for  the 
future.  He  was  handsome,  accomplished,  and  aged 
but  thirty  years  or  so.  Pepelaieff,  also  a  Siberian,  was 
fairly  popular  and  represented  a  very  liberal  ele- 
ment in  the  Cabinet.  He  seemed  intelligent  and 
to  trust  Kolchak  sincerely,  also  to  be  a  man  of 
strength  and  honesty  of  purpose,  though  of  small 
experience  in  governing.  He  had  had  good  train- 
ing, however,  in  the  old  Siberian  "chamber"  or 
Zemstvos,  and  he  impressed  one  as  a  man  capable 
of  development. 

Around  these  principals  were  large  groups  of 
people,  intriguing,  advising,  gambling  in  sensational 
news.  Most  of  them  had  little  to  do,  and  as  time 
hung  on  their  hands  they  got  into  all  sorts  of  mis- 


274  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

chief.  It  was  hard  to  tell  who  was  with  and  who 
was  against  the  government  in  this  crowd,  and  one 
saw  about  each  foreign  mission  a  small  group  of 
ne'er-do-wells,  who  watched  rivals  and  reported  or 
advised,  always  disadvantageously,  both  the  for- 
eigners and  the  Russian  Ministers.  Every  one  was 
hard  put  to  it  for  the  wherewithal  to  live  in  those 
times  when  prices  soared,  and  there  were  many 
makeshifts,  some  of  which  were  rather  tragic  to 
watch.  The  ever-present  feeling  of  the  morrow's 
fate  being  impossible  to  foresee,  gave  a  devil-may- 
care  attitude  to  the  general  mentality,  and  among 
Russians  and  foreigners  moral  standards  were  low, 
and  any  form  of  excitement  or  distraction  was  very 
welcome.  There  were  constant  parties  in  society 
where  men  and  women  played  petits  chevaux  or 
other  games  till  dawn,  because  they  could  not  walk 
home  in  the  dark  for  fear  of  attack  and  theft,  or 
murder  even.  Every  one  had  faced  the  emergency  of 
flight  or  of  death  frequently,  every  one  might  do  so 
again  at  any  moment.  Great  courage  was  shown, 
but  meantime:  "What  can  we  do  but  try  to  forget 
our  troubles  and  live  as  best  we  can?".  .  . 

After  a  few  such  evenings  one  wearied  of  their 
empty  noise,  and  even  a  dirty  hotel  room  of  a  size 
less  comfortable  than  was  known  elsewhere  seemed 
a  haven  of  rest  and  independence.  On  the  bed  a 
sleeping-bag  made  for  the  front  seemed  a  refuge, 
since  it  was  uninhabited  by  any  of  the  vermin  found 
in  the  bed,  and  was  warm  and  cosey  besides — quali- 
ties greatly  to  be  appreciated. 


SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS  275 

Admiral  Kolchak  was  altogether  wonderful. 
Quite  fearless  and  unselfish,  he  spent  frequently  a 
few  days  at  the  front,  inspiring  the  troops  and  help- 
ing the  officers  and  men  with  advice  and  example, 
always  simple  and  utterly  brave.  Then  he  re- 
turned to  Omsk,  and  patiently  worked  through  the 
heavy  length  of  days  and  nights,  explaining  or  de- 
vising the  solution  of  each  new  puzzle  which  came 
up.  He  was  faithful  and  patient  in  the  face  of  de- 
ceptive Allies,  who  now  and  then  revived  his  hopes  by 
a  promise  flung  across  the  seas,  but  who  always  fol- 
lowed these  by  long  silences  with  no  action  whatever. 
Kolchak  stood  between  the  devil  Bolshevism,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  deep  sea  of  rising  discourage- 
ment and  misery  about  him,  on  the  other.  He 
fought  intrigues  and  poverty,  famine  and  propa- 
ganda, reactionaries  and  radicals,  while  hoping 
against  hope  for  recognition  and  relief  from  with- 
out and  for  calm  about  him.  Recognition  by  his 
"allies"  would  have  meant  a  new  strength  to  fight 
the  contradictory  elements  at  home,  relief  would 
have  minimized  the  sufferings  of  the  needy  refugees 
and  population,  stamped  out  illness  and  dismal 
misery,  aiding  the  general  morale,  and  thus  giving 
him  arguments  with  which  to  quiet  complaints. 

But  nothing  came — save  smooth  words  from  mis- 
sions sent  to  investigate,  and  one  or  two  promises 
in  writing,  which,  having  warmed  the  brave  man's 
heart,  fell  to  dust  and  emptiness,  like  the  ashes  of  a 
fire  burnt  out. 

The  smooth  and  gentle  Japanese;  the  noisy  Cos- 


276  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

sacks  shouting  for  an  arrogant  stand;  the  radicals 
fearing  but  resisting  these,  all  threatened  periodi- 
cally to  upset  the  government.  Then  the  needs  of 
his  troops:  no  ammunition,  and  the  reds'  armies  of 
Chinese  and  other  mercenaries  pressing  on  us,  well- 
fed  and  officered  largely  by  Germans,  committing 
worse  crimes,  leaving  worse  and  more  complete 
destruction,  than  did  "Attila  of  Hundom."  When 
he  went  forward  there  was  all  the  misery  of  naked- 
ness and  famine  to  repair;  when  he  moved  back,  all 
the  frightful  complications  of  caring  for  thousands 
of  refugees,  who  retreated  with  the  army  in  terror 
of  tortures  unprintable. 

Holding  all  the  reins,  making  the  whole  effort, 
he  faced  representatives  of  Allies  who  knew  his 
difficulties,  yet  made  no  signs  of  stretching  out  a 
hand.  Small  wonder  the  man  was  worn  to  a  point 
where  those  who  watched  and  felt  his  greatness 
noted  with  anxiety  how  ill  he  looked,  and  how 
strained  his  nerves  were  becoming. 

An  uprising  led  by  a  Tcheque  in  Vladivostok  was 
Allies'  work;  troubles  between  " non-interfering" 
American  armies  and  rebel  Cossack  brigands,  who 
were  supposedly  in  the  pay  of  a  second  ally,  occurred. 
Impossible  situations  and  complaints  were  due  to  a 
fourth  ally's  pretensions.  There  was  lack  of  am- 
munition while  trains  of  arms  and  food  were  held 
up  by  the  Tcheques,  who  wanted  locomotives  to 
hasten  their  own  retreat  toward  the  Eastern  port 
of  embarkation;  train-loads  of  civilian  refugees 
were  held  up  also  in  the  Omsk  evacuation.  A  gen- 


SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS  277 

eral  massacre  was  feared  since  the  Tcheques  seized 
locomotives  to  double  the  speed  of  their  own  de- 
parture. It  was  hideous,  inhuman !  Yet,  instead  of 
the  deep  fury  most  men  have  felt,  this  eminent  hero, 
in  making  a  short  public  speech,  had  said  quietly 
one  day,  with  a  wan  smile:  "The  Allies'  representa- 
tives are  kind  to  me,  and  we  get  on  excellently 
together.  I  hope  this  is  a  sign  that  the  Allies  them- 
selves like  us,  and  mean  to  stand  with  us."  That 
occurred  some  time  ago,  and  things  have  gone  from 
bad  to  worse;  but  there  was  no  record  of  bitter  ut- 
terances by  Admiral  Kolchak.  Even  in  desperate 
straits  he  went  on  fighting,  too  busy  to  talk,  but 
showing  undiminished  courage,  and  he  inspired  en- 
thusiasm in  those  who  saw  him  act. 

My  husband  received  an  order  to  travel  in  a  car 
belonging  to  the  train  of  the  Minister  of  War. 
There  was  talk  of  not  evacuating  the  government 
from  Omsk  almost  to  the  last  moment  before  its 
departure,  and  the  civilians  and  the  military  were 
in  a  real  panic  over  their  danger. 

Kolchak  himself  was  perfectly  calm.  He  didn't 
want  to  leave,  but  there  was  no  chance  of  defending 
Omsk  successfully,  and  he  gave  way  to  the  situa- 
tion's exigencies.  Around  Kolchak  Janin  from 
France  wanted  to  occupy  himself  exclusively  with 
the  Tcheques  and  Poles,  while  Knox  of  England 
wanted  to  mix  into  and  direct  all  our  Admiral's  or- 
ders; and  because  he  was  not  obeyed  he  suddenly 
left  in  hasty  annoyance.  There  was  no  American 
momentarily  in  the  entourage  of  the  leader.  The 


278  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

little  Japanese  envoy  stayed  till  the  very  last,  and 
had  been  most  efficient  and  helpful,  with  an  excel- 
lent, respectful  attitude  toward  Kolchak. 

Once  their  compatriots'  trains  had  passed,  the 
Tcheques  refused  to  guard  the  railroads.  They  had 
also  stolen  most  of  the  material  we  Russians  had. 
They  were  comparatively  well  armed,  while  their 
uniforms  had  taken  the  last  supplies  of  Russian 
cloth;  also  our  final  reserves  of  equipment,  guns, 
and  horses  had  gone  to  them.  No  wonder  they  had 
made  our  people  hate  them  for  their  selfishness  and 
treachery !  Semenoff,  who  was  headstrong  and  with 
no  thought  of  what  his  acts  might  lead  to,  was  so 
furious  with  their  action  he  had  stopped  the  Tcheque 
troop-trains,  one  after  another,  as  they  went  through 
the  province  under  his  command  and  held  them  up 
until  all  stolen  goods  were  handed  over  to  him.  He 
even  turned  one  whole  battery  of  artillery  back  to 
Irkoutsk. 

In  leaving  Omsk  it  was  almost  impossible  to  find 
a  place  in  which  to  travel,  primarily  because  nearly 
all  first  and  second  class  cars  were  seized  by  the 
Tcheques  for  their  own  use,  while  only  the  third- 
class  and  the  box  cars  were  left  for  our  Russians. 
Even  the  hospitals  found  it  impossible  to  get  good 
cars,  or  to  transport  their  wounded  because  of  this 
arbitrary  action  on  the  Tcheques'  part.  The 
wounded  and  the  typhus  patients  were  largely  left 
behind  in  the  wards  for  lack  of  transportation,  but 
as  many  as  possible  of  the  doctors  and  nurses  were 
removed,  because  the  Bolsheviki  were  known  to 


SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS  279 

show  special  cruelty  in  torturing  and  martyrizing 
these,  while  it  was  supposed  the  sick  and  wounded 
might  be  spared.  This  turned  out  not  to  be  the 
case,  however,  and  soon  news  came  to  the  retreat- 
ing army  that  all  the  poor  ill  and  wounded  had 
been  frightfully  ill-treated  first  and  then  murdered. 
Officers  found  by  the  Bolsheviki  wounded  on  the 
battle-fields  were  also  invariably  subjected  to  terrible 
tortures  and  then  killed. 

For  days,  the  Omsk  people  were  packing  and  be- 
ing moved  eastward  with  the  best  of  order,  rapidity, 
and  a  show  of  discipline  quite  remarkable  under 
the  circumstances.  On  the  last  day  a  panic  began, 
and  grew,  and  then  things  became  more  difficult  to 
handle.  Confusion  reigned.  It  was  impossible  to 
find  the  car  places  indicated;  every  train  was  con- 
gested, and  instead  of  a  berth  with  the  Handjine 
party,  my  husband  found  himself,  after  various 
troubles,  assigned  to  a  car  which  was  being  arranged 
for  some  foreigners. 

Just  before  they  left  Omsk  an  airplane  fell,  dis- 
abled, containing  a  Bolshevik  "commissioner"  and 
a  young  aviator;  both  were  living.  They  were  at 
once  surrounded  and  the  "commissioner"  was  shot. 
The  aviator  was  questioned  as  to  what  was  hap- 
pening in  the  red  country.  He  said  that  all  officers 
who,  like  himself,  had  been  left  in  Bolshevik  coun- 
try had  been  forcibly  mobilized  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet.  Those  with  families  saw  their  wives  and 
children  taken  as  hostages  and  shot  on  the  first 
sign  of  the  husbands*  or  fathers1  abandoning  the 


280  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Bolshevikis'  firing  line.  Those  who,  like  himself, 
had  no  relations  left,  saw  fifteen  of  their  comrades 
locked  up  every  time  they  flew,  and  in  case  of  an 
accident  which,  like  the  present  one,  meant  he  would 
not  return,  all  those  fifteen  prisoners  would  be 
shot  or  tortured. 

The  case  of  General  R.  was  one  which  confirmed 
this  young  man's  tale.  R.  had  been  made  chief -of- 
staff  on  one  of  the  Bolshevik  fronts  soon  after  he 
was  seized  in  Moscow,  while  his  wife  and  daughter 
were  put  in  the  hands  of  a  young  Hungarian  war- 
prisoner  Bolshevist  commissioner  in  a  small  town 
near  the  capital.  After  some  months  of  service  R. 
decided  that  not  even  to  save  the  lives  of  his  dear 
ones  should  he  go  on  fighting  with  the  Bolsheviki, 
and  that  he  must  do  his  duty  and  make  an  attempt 
to  get  across  to  Kolchak's  lines.  He  found  a  faith- 
ful messenger  to  carry  a  warning  to  his  wife  advising 
her  to  try  to  escape  also  and  join  him.  By  good 
chance  the  Hungarian  commissioner  was  in  love 
with  R.'s  daughter,  so  discipline  had  been  somewhat 
slackened  around  the  women.  They  did  manage 
to  escape,  in  old  peasant  garments,  just  before  the 
sentence  passed  on  them  could  be  executed,  be- 
cause the  infatuated  Hungarian  had  removed  the 
guard  from  around  their  quarters.  Making  their  way 
first  on  foot,  then  by  springless  peasant  carts,  they 
travelled  from  Moscow  till  they  found  General  R. 
back  of  Kolchak's  lines.  There  were  hundreds  of 
poor  officers  less  fortunate  than  the  general  was, 
who  were  obliged  to  leave  their  friends  back  beyond 


SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS  281 

the  Bolshevik  frontiers,  from  where  no  sign  had  come 
to  them  for  a  year  or  more.  Certainly  it  was  a 
dreadful  situation ! 

Leaving  Omsk  a  Monday  morning  about  eighteen 
hours  late  on  the  schedule  of  departure,  my  hus- 
band's heavy  train  moved  back  toward  Irkoutsk 
slowly,  because  of  the  congestion  on  the  road. 
The  trip  took  a  week,  though  the  foreigners'  train 
had  right  of  way.  From  everybody  complaints  were 
heard  (beginning  with  the  head  manager  of  the  road 
and  running  down  to  the  last  small  train  official) 
of  the  Tcheques'  arrogance,  selfish  pretensions,  and 
brutality. 

Warned  of  the  probable  attacks  on  trains  by 
robbers  and  brigands  with  Bolshevik  tendencies, 
our  men  were  considerably  bothered  by  anxiety. 
As  this  load  was  of  foreign  Allies  an  armored  train 
was  run  ahead  for  parts  of  the  trip,  to  protect  the 
guests.  In  the  province  of  Krasnoyarsk  a  Bolshevik 
proclamation  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  secret  service 
and  was  shown  to  my  husband.  In  view  of  the 
pretensions  of  the  friends  of  Bolshevism  in  the 
United  States  (who  claim  the  reds  are  a  popular 
and  democratic  party)  it  may  be  interesting  to  quote. 
This  paper  appealed  to  the  people  to  stop  fighting, 
and  in  proclaiming  the  anti-Bolshevik  leaders  traitors 
to  their  country  it  said  that  there  had  just  been 
an  election  of  the  old  Grand  Duke  Nicolas  in  Mos- 
cow, who  was  consequently  now  the  actual  Emperor 
of  Russia  with  L6nine  as  his  Prime  Minister  and 
Trotzky  at  the  imperial  war  office;  also  that  all  those 


282  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

who  were  loyal  Russians  must  attack  the  trains  of 
troops  belonging  to  Kolchak  the  democrat.  The 
men  who  were  distributing  this  document  among 
the  peasants  carried  about  with  them  the  imperial 
standard  (or  flag)  and  sang  the  imperial  anthem. 
They  said  the  new  Emperor  had  all  his  ancient 
powers  and  privileges  again ! 

The  news  also  came  by  telegram,  that  the  Bol- 
sheviki  had  attacked  Omsk  with  their  Chinese 
mercenaries  in  the  first  line,  these  being  promised 
ten  thousand  roubles  apiece  for  taking  the  city, 
and  the  hope  being  held  out  to  them  that  they  were 
on  the  last  lap  of  their  campaigning  and  would  be 
allowed  to  go  home  to  China  once  Siberia  was  won 
for  the  reds.  It  was  really  enough  to  make  decent 
men  tremble.  Imagine  the  yellow  races  gone  mad 
with  Sovietist  theories ! 

On  their  arrival  at  Irkoutsk  the  group  Cantacu- 
z£ne  was  with  found  everything  up  in  the  air.  News 
of  the  uprising  under  the  Tcheque  General  Gaida 
at  Vladivostok  had  just  arrived,  and  in  Irkoutsk 
itself  a  new  outbreak  of  the  "social  revolutionaries" 
was  just  stopped  by  the  arrest  of  the  disorderly  men 
who  instigated  it.  The  Tcheques  added  to  the  con- 
fusion by  handing  in  an  ultimatum  saying  that  they 
would  like  to  be  transported  to  their  own  home,  or 
else  the  Kolchak  regime  must  be  overthrown  and 
a  social-revolutionary  government  be  established  in 
its  place,  under  their  supervision  and  protection ! 
The  transportation  of  the  Tcheques  was  not  in 
Kolchak's  hands,  as  the  whole  question  of  the  duty 


SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS  283 

and  comfort  of  these  Allies  was  in  the  hands  of  Gen- 
eral Janin,  high  commissioner  for  France,  and  of  the 
rest  of  his  foreign  colleagues. 

One  had  an  impression  through  all  the  noise  and 
agitation  of  imminent  changes.  It  seemed  impossi- 
ble for  any  man,  whatever  his  genius,  to  handle  the 
situation  of  a  serious  retreat,  with  no  provisions  of 
arms  and  munitions,  food  or  clothing,  and  with 
refugees  crowding  the  land  in  waves.  Various 
political  parties  were  in  opposition,  too,  and  all  the 
foreigners  were  intriguing  and  struggling  each  for 
supremacy.  Some  even  used  treacherous  methods  to 
seize  the  power.  With  disorder  on  the  one  railroad, 
occasioned  by  the  strain  of  evacuating  an  army  plus 
the  civilian  population,  with  the  arbitrary  com- 
mandeering of  trains  by  the  Tcheques  for  those  in 
whom  they  felt  interested,  and  adding  to  all  this 
typhus,  famine,  cold,  and  cutthroat  prices — one  can 
present  to  one's  imagination  the  tableau  of  the  trip 
from  Omsk  to  Irkoutsk  in  early  December,  1919. 

My  husband  personally  helped  to  bury  eighteen 
bodies  drawn  from  a  refugees'  box  car  near  his  own 
on  the  road,  and  he  had  occasion  to  see  what  the 
horrors  of  life  were  for  the  women  and  children, 
crowded  promiscuously  into  these  cars,  thirty  or 
forty  in  each.  They  were  without  fuel,  though 
forests  all  around  were  plentiful,  but  beyond  reach 
for  poor  refugees,  the  snow  being  more  than  six 
feet  deep  and  impassable  along  the  Trans-Siberian. 
Cars  were  so  dirty,  and  filled  with  vermin,  that 
disinfection  and  burning  could  be  the  only  remedy. 


284  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Nevertheless,  the  people  lived  in  them,  minus  every- 
thing and  with  no  possibility  of  either  cleaning  or 
airing  their  quarters.  Soap  and  medicines  were 
totally  lacking,  and  there  was  no  straw  to  sleep  on. 
The  latter  was  nowhere  to  be  found,  even  at  the 
price  of  its  weight  in  gold,  had  gold  been  producible. 
Scenes  one  must  see  to  believe  in  their  full  extent 
of  misery,  and  which  were  very  strange  in  this  cen- 
tury of  comfort,  were  being  enacted  everywhere. 

From  Irkoutsk  to  Vladivostok  was  a  much  easier 
trip.  One  was  farther  from  the  front  and  minus 
the  refugees,  whose  trains  were  slower  than  the  train 
my  husband  had  taken.  One  was  struck  by  the 
extremely  good  discipline  of  troops  seen  everywhere 
at  the  stations  from  Baikal  on,  through  the  country 
under  the  rule  of  Ataman  Semenoff,  head  of  the 
Cossacks.  The  line  itself  was  guarded  by  Japanese 
and  American  troops  posted  alternately  along  the 
route.  My  husband  had  met  Semenoff  on  the 
western  front  in  1915,  when  the  latter  was  there  as 
a  very  young  officer,  and  Cantacuze*ne  was  greatly 
interested  in  the  visible  signs  of  his  development. 
He  sent  his  uncle  (also  General  Semenoff,  an  old 
schoolmate  of  my  husband)  to  meet  the  train  at 
the  station  of  Chita  (capital  of  Zabaikal  province, 
and  residence  of  the  Ataman).  The  general  said 
that  his  nephew's  position  was  difficult  politically, 
but  that  they  meant  to  fight  to  the  last  extremity, 
and  to  help  Kolchak  beat  the  Bolsheviki.  He  asked 
too  for  aid  from  the  Americans,  through  my  hus- 
band's mission,  to  keep  our  people  alive.  On  the 
road  between  Harbin  and  Vladivostok  was  an  Amer- 


SIBEBIAN  IMPRESSIONS  285 

lean  engineer,  Major  C ,  who,  having  his  private 

car,  gave  Cantacuzene  the  first  good  meal  eaten  by 
him  in  six  weeks.  The  host  was  one  of  John  S. 
Stevens's  aids  and  a  member  of  the  splendid  com- 
pany of  Americans  who  were  doing  all  possible  to 
help  run  the  Trans-Siberian  under  great  difficulties. 
Really  an  admirable  and  helpful  work,  carried  out 
in  the  finest  spirit ! 

Arrival  at  Vladivostok  at  5  A.  M.  The  station 
had  been  bombarded  and  was  pretty  well  battered 
and  knocked  to  pieces,  during  the  Gaida  insurrec- 
tion, a  few  days  before  my  husband  reached  the 
city.  In  Vladivostok  Cantacuzene  heard  the  follow- 
ing details  of  this  bloody  intrigue  of  the  Tcheque 
adventurer,  who  had  been  honored  by  a  command 
and  a  military  title  in  our  All-Russian  army  and 
had  turned  traitor  to  his  benefactor,  Kolchak. 

A  proclamation  was  posted  by  Tcheques  on  No- 
vember 1 6,  declaring  the  regime  of  Kolchak  in- 
tolerable, and  asking  that  the  Tcheques  be  immedi- 
ately repatriated  to  Tchequo-Slovakia,  or  receive  full 
powers  to  act  in  Siberia.  This  proclamation  was 
posted  widely  in  Vladivostok;  also  it  was  published 
in  whole,  or  in  part,  by  the  Vladivostok  newspapers. 

Active  recruiting  by  General  Gaida — social-revo- 
lutionary elements  of  soldiers  offered  to  join  his 
cause  in  an  armed  uprising  against  the  Kolchak 
government.  ...  He  was  upheld  by  about  two 
thousand  five  hundred  men.  The  Tcheques  did  not 
rally  around  their  leader,  who  postponed  action  for 
twenty-four  hours  because  of  a  thunder-storm. 

A  Siberian   constituent  directorate  was  formed, 


286  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

with  Yakushoff,  prominent  in  the  pre-Kolchak 
regime,  as  a  leader,  with  General  Gaida  as  the 
active  military  commander.  A  Zemstvo  flag  (green, 
red,  and  white)  was  hoisted  over  Gaida's  train  in 
the  railway  yards,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the 
railway  station.  General  Gaida  opened  recruiting- 
stations  near  his  train,  and  attempted  enrolling  both 
soldiers  and  civilians.  Taking  the  oath,  the  re- 
cruits were  given  a  rifle  and  an  overcoat ;  also  epau- 
lets and  ribbons  of  green  and  white.  Major  John- 
son, commanding  the  International  Military  Police, 
visited  the  scene,  and  at  that  time  no  bloodshed  was 
expected  by  Gaida's  forces.  It  was  believed  that 
such  a  response  would  come  to  the  raising  of  the 
"banner  of  revolution'*  that  overwhelming  forces 
would  occupy  the  railway  station,  also  that  through- 
out the  city  there  would  be  an  uprising  of  workmen. 

On  Monday  there  was  a  short,  sharp  burst  of 
rifle-firing  in  the  railway  yards,  between  the  station 
and  a  group  of  trains  which  included  Gaida's  own 
special  and  luxurious  one,  but  nothing  occurred  yet. 

The  story  of  who  fired  the  first  shot  is  rather 
vague,  but  the  tale  most  credited  was  about  two 
Tcheque  officers,  who,  with  a  few  men  from  Gaida's 
train,  had  started  toward  the  railway  station  to  look 
over  the  ground  with  a  view  to  bringing  a  body  of 
men  to  replace  those  the  All-Russian  government 
kept  there  for  public  safety. 

After  this  first  struggle  the  whole  thing  crystal- 
lized at  once.  General  firing  began,  coupled  with 
rushes  of  small  bodies  of  soldiers  to  occupy  points  of 


SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS  287 

vantage.  Severe  fighting  followed,  and  continued 
until  after  nightfall.  At  nightfall  the  government 
forces  held  possession  of  the  station,  but  Gaida's 
men  drove  them  out  and  occupied  the  station  finally, 
holding  it  till  Tuesday  morning.  Gaida's  chief -of- 
staff  stated  that  six  men  were  killed  and  twenty 
were  wounded  in  taking  the  station. 

Tuesday  morning  Gaida's  chief -of -staff  was  quoted 
as  saying  to  an  officer  who  had  gone  into  the  station 
to  get  some  women  away  from  the  danger:  "The 
game  is  up  and  we'll  take  our  medicine." 

Six  men  were  sent  from  the  railway  station  by 
Gaida  to  go  to  Tcheque  headquarters  and  ask  that 
Tcheque  forces  come  to  his  assistance.  (This  story 
was  told  by  one  of  Gaida's  men,  wounded  and 
being  given  medical  treatment  by  the  Canadian  Red 
Cross.)  The  Tcheque  troops  held  aloof,  however, 
and  did  not  go  to  the  assistance  of  Gaida. 

Some  time  between  two  and  five  o'clock  on  Tues- 
day morning  Gaida  left  the  railway  station.  He  was 
captured  about  five,  on  the  hill  above  the  yards, 
was  marched  on  foot  from  the  point  of  capture,  up 
Aleutskaya  Street,  to  the  Russian  Staff  headquarters 
under  armed  guard.  He  had  been  wounded  in  the 
foot,  but  not  seriously.  His  chief -of -staff  was  also 
captured  and  taken  to  Russian  headquarters. 

General  Gaida  had  been  given  three  days  to  leave, 
and  it  was  reported  he  would  leave  by  steamer  that 
week.  He  had  been  turned  over  by  the  Russians 
to  the  custody  of  the  Tcheque  staff. 

A  certain  number  of  deserters  from  the  govern- 


288  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

ment  army  who  joined  Gaida  were  shot  in  the  rail- 
way station  and  vicinity,  on  being  captured  by  loyal 
troops,  and  their  fate  was  an  excellent  example  to 
others  of  their  type. 

By  dawn  Tuesday  morning  the  fighting  was  vir- 
tually ended  and  government  forces  were  in  entire 
control  of  the  city,  so  that  there  was  no  difficulty  in 
bringing  the  wounded  from  the  station  and  yards. 
This  work  continued  all  day. 

Indications  on  Tuesday  night  were  that  Vladivo- 
stok would  be  normal  Wednesday  and  that  banks 
and  business  houses  would  be  opened.  All  banks 
and  virtually  all  business  houses  in  Vladivostok 
had  been  closed  since  Monday — the  streets  unusu- 
ally quiet.  There  were  no  signs  of  disorder,  and 
the  police  reported  there  had  been  no  accidents, 
no  lootings,  and  no  murders  during  the  last  three 
eventful  days. 

Embarking  again  at  Vladivostok  seemed  a  tragedy; 
and  to  leave  all  the  danger  behind  one,  and  go  back 
to  comfort  and  safety,  a  crime.  So  many  came  to 
ask  some  slight  service  of  the  departing  group — 
would  some  man  going  toward  plenty,  sell  a  suit  of 
clothes,  a  leather  vest,  or  a  pair  of  boots  ?  Were  there 
any  underclothes  or  old  handkerchiefs  to  be  had  for 
the  hospitals — where  people  died  for  lack  of  every- 
thing? Almost  all  the  travellers  gave  of  their 
slender  stores  to  the  still  poorer  creatures  who  re- 
mained behind.  Letters  were  sent  by  hand  to  many 


SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS  289 

a  friend  or  relation  living  in  safe  countries,  with 
appeals  for  help — food,  provisions,  warm  clothes, 
everything  so  frightfully  needed.  Sailing  brought  a 
lump  into  one's  throat — to  leave  one's  country 
(even  to  help  it)  in  the  depths  of  misery  made  one 
heart-sick;  yet  there  was  a  mission  to  be  accom- 
plished, possible  aid  to  be  obtained,  and  my  husband 
was  the  chosen  messenger. 

His  trip  back  was  interrupted  for  a  few  days 
in  Japan — waiting  for  a  steamer  and  getting  the 
usual  papers  vised.  It  was  there  the  news  reached 
Cantacuzene  of  the  change  of  government  and  of 
the  new  ministry,  created  on  more  radical  lines  with 
Pepelaieff  at  its  head.  Handjine  remained  Minister 
of  War,  and  Tretiakoff  was  given  the  portfolio  of 
foreign  affairs  and  the  vice-premiership,  Kolchak 
remaining  at  the  army's  head.  The  Japanese  papers 
announced  with  an  innocent  air:  It  is  reported  from 
authentic  sources  that  all  the  misunderstandings 
which  were  brought  about  by  the  Tchequo-Slovak 
memorandum  are  considered  at  an  end,  and  that  the 
most  friendly  relations  exist  between  the  Russian 
people  and  the  Tchequo-Slovak  representatives. 

Two  weeks  later,  having  landed  in  New  York,  the 
tragic  appeal  of  Kolchak  (perhaps  his  last  to  the 
Allies  ?)  appeared  in  the  daily  papers.  It  said  that 
the  Tchequo-Slovaks  had  held  up  his  ammunition- 
trains,  sacrificing  his  last  chance  of  standing  against 
the  Bolsheviki  before  Irkoutsk,  also  that  the  same 
group  of  Allies  had  held  up  the  troop-trains  and  those 


290  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

with  refugees,  in  their  retreat,  until  one  hundred  and 
twenty  sections  of  our  army's  transportation  (one 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  soldiers  with  their 
poor  arms  and  baggage)  had  been  lost  to  us;  cap- 
tured and  victimized  by  their  hideous  opponents. 
The  brave  admiral  still  uttered  no  invectives  against 
either  the  Bolsheviki  or  the  dastardly  ally  who  was 
throwing  him  into  the  enemy's  hands.  He  merely 
stated  the  facts  and  called  on  the  Allied  nations  to 
remonstrate  with  the  Tcheques — putting  their  treach- 
ery on  record  for  the  world  to  judge.  By  the  irony  of 
fate,  or  perhaps  with  evil  intent,  this  message  occu- 
pied only  a  corner  of  the  newspapers  and  was  in  small 
print,  while  in  large  type  and  with  vivid  head-lines 
stood  out  the  bitter  facts  of  the  army  and  its  com- 
mander cut  off  from  their  base — Kolchak  the  brave 
caught  in  a  trap,  and  in  a  situation  where  it  would 
seem  he  and  the  heroes  of  his  army  must  have  been 
surrounded  and  crushed.  No  further  news  for  days, 
and  the  silence  causes  deep  mourning  in  every  loyal 
Russian  heart.  If  these  men  escape,  it  will  be  a 
very  miracle  of  providential  succor.  Heaven  look- 
ing down  on  such  courage  and  such  patience  might 
show  pity  where  humanity  has  remained  cold.  Not 
all  humanity,  however;  for  among  the  letters 
brought  to  me  by  my  husband  from  Siberia  is  one 

from  a  phlegmatic  British  officer,  Colonel  Y ,  and 

he  said:  "The  situation  is  most  serious,  owing  to  the 
appalling  increase  of  refugees — men,  women,  and 
children  from  Ekaterinburg,  Ufa,  Perm,  the  Ural, 


SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS  291 

and  now  from  Omsk — thousands  with  hardly  a 
stitch  on,  and  in  nearly  every  case  what  gar- 
ments exist  are  made  of  cotton — with  the  severe 
weather  already  set  in !  They  come  in  trains,  on 
top  of  trains,  in  carts,  and  on  foot,  destitute,  with- 
out money  or  food.  People  living  in  warm  houses 
can't  possibly  realize  what  this  winter  will  be  for 
the  poor  people  of  this  country  (Siberia).  Re- 
member there  is  nothing  to  buy  in  the  way  of  cloth- 
ing, and  besides  the  rouble  has  dropped  till  it  is 
three  hundred  and  fifty  to  the  dollar.  It  isn't  so 
bad  for  the  person  who  has  dollars  to  buy  roubles 
with,  but  you  must  understand  what  it  means  to 
the  Russian,  who,  being  paid  in  roubles  at  the  old 
rate,  yet  has  to  buy  food  and  fuel  with  prices  sky- 
high,  or  who  lacks  money  altogether.  On  top  of 
this,  disease  is  rife  and  there  are  no  medicines. 
The  great  heart-rending  cry  is  'Oh,  for  some  warm 
clothing' — for  soldiers,  warm  underclothes  and 
shirts  and  socks.  For  women,  outer  garments,  un- 
derclothes, in  fact  everything;  children,  too,  any- 
thing to  warm  freezing  bodies.  Thousands  of  lives 
depend  on  these,  so  please  do  what  you  can  for  the 
sake  of  humanity !  No  other  form  of  propaganda 
can  do  so  much  for  the  prestige  of  civilization  as 
this.  Send  wools,  flannels.  Any  materials  sent  can 
be  made  up  in  our  workrooms.  We  will  have  the 
women  make  their  garments,  sewing  or  knitting.  It 
would  do  your  heart  good  to  see  how  grateful  these 
Russians  can  be,  and  are,  for  what  has  been  done ! 


292  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Russia  moans  and  cries  out  to  the  world.  She  is  a 
living  body,  and  her  tortures  cannot  be  looked  upon 
in  cold  blood  as  extraordinary.  Never  before  has  the 
world  witnessed  such  an  experience  in  social  evolu- 
tion. Russia  is  living  and  every  pore  in  her  body  is 
shedding  blood." 

In  spite  of  this  suffering,  our  people  are  so  numer- 
ous, our  land  has  such  possibilities  of  recuperation, 
our  Slav  race  is  so  powerful,  that  Russia  is  far  from 
conquered.  Heroic  men  are  fighting,  and  will  go 
on  fighting;  and  one  may  still  count  on  the  future, 
however  black  the  present  is.  Russia  has  been  over- 
run with  Tartars  and  with  Turks,  with  Swedes  and 
Frenchmen  before,  yet  it  was  our  people  who  de- 
feated Mustapha  and  the  brilliant  Charles,  even  as 
they  did  Napoleon.  Last  August  Kolchak  called 
on  his  allies  for  help,  saying  if  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion did  not  come,  he  must  retreat.  He  stood  at 
the  Volga  then.  Now  at  Irkoutsk  he  stands.  The 
Bolsheviki  are  already  shouting  their  victory  over 
the  world  at  large.  Kolchak,  knowing  no  one  will 
hear,  has  ceased  to  call.  But  he  hasn't  ceased  fight- 
ing; and  neither  have  some  others.  Our  driven 
armies  have  turned  and  won  before  in  history; 
always  they  have  won  alone  against  great  odds.  So 
it  will  be  now;  one  must  have  faith  and  hope  and 
even  charity,  all  of  which  are  Russian  qualities. 
With  our  national  patience  and  insurmountable 
courage  we  have  sometimes  worked  miracles  in  the 
world's  history.  To-day  Russia's  friends,  for  whom 


SIBERIAN  IMPRESSIONS  293 

she  has  offered  her  life,  seem  to  have  deserted  her 
and  all  is  dark.  We  must  believe  that  Russia's 
crucifixion  will  save  the  world,  and  her  resurrection, 
following  soon,  shall  prove  that  her  great  sacrifice 
was  not  in  vain  I 


IX 
DAUGHTERS  OF  RUSSIA 

DOWN  through  the  centuries  the  Russian 
woman's  life  has  always  been  in  part  an 
Oriental  one.  The  country  has  been  a 
meeting-ground  of  East  and  West,  and  until  great 
Peter's  time,  our  women's  rdle  was  mainly  in  the 
"terem,"  and  they  took  no  part  in  outside  or  social 
life.  There  were  exceptions  to  the  rule,  of  course. 
Olga,  grandmother  of  St.  Vladimir  of  Kief,  about 
the  year  955  A.  D.,  went  on  a  trip  to  Byzantium 
and  brought  back  to  her  home  country  its  first  knowl- 
edge of  Christianity,  which  she  had  accepted.  Later, 
in  1469,  a  Byzantine  Princess  came  to  Moscow  as 
wife  of  Czar  Ivan  III,  and  she  brought  with  her 
scholars,  scientists,  and  artists.  This  Czarina 
Sophia  was  the  centre  of  Russia's  intellectual  life 
while  her  husband's  reign  lasted.  Martha  of  Nov- 
gorod led  a  rebellion  against  Ivan  the  Terrible  dur- 
ing this  same  reign. 

A  few  other  feminine  names  appear  in  Russian 
history,  but  generally  speaking  all  women  lived  tran- 
quilly, behind  closed  doors  and  trellised  windows, 
till  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century.  In  the 
Kremlin  palace  at  Moscow,  the  ancient  Czarinas' 
apartment  still  exists — unless  the  Bolsheviki  have 

294 


DAUGHTERS  OF  RUSSIA  295 

destroyed  it — arranged  as  it  was  in  olden  times. 
The  rooms  are  low  and  vaulted,  with  deep,  small 
windows  placed  high  in  the  walls,  from  which  one 
can  look  down  on  the  great  square  below.  There 
are  vast  colored  stoves  of  valuable  faience,  and  great 
splendor  of  decoration  on  lines  recalling  the  Far  East. 
The  walls  are  colored  much  as  Persian  carpets  usu- 
ally are,  with  dark,  brilliant  contrasts.  Dull  gold 
and  silver  keep  up  this  impression,  as  the  eye  wan- 
ders to  heavy,  wrought-metal  chandeliers,  candle- 
sticks, and  icons,  and  to  the  nail-studded  chests  for 
jewels  and  for  clothes  which  stand  about.  One  can 
visualize  with  little  imagination  the  rich  beauties 
of  ancient  days,  dressed  in  heavy  velvets  and  bro- 
cades, and  in  soft  silks  and  cashmeres  brought  from 
India  and  China,  sitting  about  at  embroidery-frames, 
or  doing  other  fragile  work  with  lazy  fingers,  to  pass 
the  long  hours  away.  They  had  slaves  to  do  their 
bidding,  also  dancers,  minstrels,  and  dwarfs  to  keep 
them  amused,  and  the  Great  White  Czar  frequently 
visited  them ;  but  even  so  there  must  have  been  many 
a  day  when  bondage  weighed  heavily;  and  they  all 
faded  young.  Some  women  intrigued  in  politics 
through  their  influence  over  a  powerful  husband  or  a 
son,  but  in  most  respects  the  wives  of  great  boyars — 
nobles — resembled  our  Czarinas  in  their  futility. 

Peter  the  Great  changed  this,  as  he  did  much  else 
in  Russia.  He  ordered  the  women  out  of  their  re- 
tirement and  from  national  dress  into  French 
clothes.  He  gave  Western  f£tes  at  court,  and  he 
made  every  one  take  part  in  his  own  boisterous 


296  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

fun.  His  wife,  Catherine,  a  daughter  of  the  peo- 
ple, was  made  his  constant  companion;  went  with 
him  to  his  wars,  and  took  a  share  in  the  work  and 
play  of  his  stirring  life  at  home.  When  he  died  it 
was  to  her  he  left  his  crown,  and  she  reigned  for 
some  years,  Russia's  first  Empress  in  fact  as  well 
as  in  name.  After  her  there  was  a  series  of  them: 
Ann,  the  daughter  of  Peter's  elder  brother,  who 
was  fat  and  vague,  left  no  impression  on  our  his- 
tory; Elizabeth,  Peter's  own  daughter,  followed 
and  showed  much  of  her  father's  temperament, 
doing  a  great  deal  that  was  fine  and  constructive 
in  spite  of  her  dissolute  life.  Last,  but  not  least, 
greatest  and  most  magnificent  of  all  our  sovereigns, 
the  second  Catherine  reigned  and  was  called  "  Em- 
peror." Intellectual,  virile,  friend  of  half  the  phi- 
losophers of  her  epoch,  her  own  letters  uncon- 
sciously testify  to  her  high  instruction,  broad  culti- 
vation, as  well  as  to  the  vast  range  of  her  interests. 
Past  master  of  diplomacy,  she  kept  all  Europe 
amazed  at  her  feet;  and  by  her  military  campaigns 
she  added  province  after  province  to  her  domains. 
She  led  in  her  court's  gayety,  invited  artists,  writers, 
players,  soldiers,  architects,  musicians,  and  scientists 
to  her  capital.  She  gave  Russia  its  finest  collections, 
palaces,  and  public  buildings;  decorated  its  towns 
with  monuments  and  parks;  founded  industries, 
planned  cities,  made  a  code  of  laws  which  were  a 
wonder  of  the  times. 

She  created  a  university  which  is  still  the  greatest 
in  Russia  and  founded  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts, 


CATHERINE  THE   GREAT. 


DAUGHTERS  OF  RUSSIA  297 

which  even  recently,  until  the  revolution,  ranked 
among  the  first  in  Europe.  She  chose  for  her  minis- 
ters, admirals,  and  generals  the  most  brilliant  men  of 
her^empire,  whether  they  were  Princes  or  peasants; 
and  kept  them  in  their  places  if  she  thought  they 
served  the  country  well,  even  when  they  dared  to 
cross  her  own  autocratic  will.  Her  wars  and  her 
voyages,  her  f£tes  and  her  loves,  were  many;  and  in 
her  one  existence  she  lived,  twenty  times  over,  the 
works,  deeds,  and  emotions  of  an  ordinary  man.  She 
reconstructed  Russia  and  put  it  in  touch  with  the 
outside  world;  and,  in  spite  of  certain  vices,  her 
brains  and  her  high  aims,  with  her  glory,  filled  her 
own  contemporaries — as  they  have  posterity  since 
— with  admiration.  One  travelled  over  Russia  a 
hundred  years  or  more  after  she  died,  and  one  still 
found  traces  of  this  great  personality  in  the  far- 
thest corners  of  its  provinces.  The  two  capitals, 
Moscow  and  St.  Petersburg,  bore  her  impress  in  all 
the  best  they  held.  One  was  forced  to  admit  she 
was  a  superwoman,  and  that  her  country  owed  her 
memory  deep  gratitude  for  the  work  she  expended 
on  it  and  the  love  she  gave  her  people,  whom  she 
truly  understood. 

Catherine  died  in  1796,  and  since  her  time  Russia's 
national  life  has  changed  little.  Our  women  only 
needed  to  hold  the  place  and  powers  this  Empress 
had  made  for  them;  and  society,  in  and  around  the 
court  at  least,  remained  most  brilliant  throughout 
the  nineteenth  century. 

The  peasant  woman's  life,  on  the  other  hand,  was 


298  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

narrow  to  the  extremest  limit,  small  and  sad.  She 
worked  always,  and  had  many  children  and  much 
misery  as  her  regular  portion — this  even  after  the 
emancipation  of  the  serfs  in  1863. 

In  the  upper  classes,  on  the  contrary,  there  was 
an  elite  of  women  highly  cultivated  and  most  at- 
tractive. All  through  the  last  five  reigns  of  the 
Romanoffs  St.  Petersburg  ranked  high  for  its  salons. 
There  were  also  Russian  women  who  made  a  great 
mark  for  themselves  in  art,  in  science,  or  in  politics, 
while  many  cut  creditable  figures  as  secret  diplo- 
matic agents,  serving  their  government  well  in 
foreign  capitals.  Between  these  two  extremes  of 
aristocrat  and  peasant  there  were  the  "intelli- 
gentzia" and  the  "bourgeoisie."  The  first  supplied 
brains  of  the  best  quality,  which  contributed  to  the 
country's  development,  but  also  from  their  group 
came  our  nihilists  and  other  underfed  and  over- 
excited types.  Those  of  the  second  category  lived 
quiet,  sheltered  lives,  on  the  contrary,  and  did  little 
except  to  care  for  homes  and  families,  read  ro- 
mances, eat  sweets,  and  talk.  It  was  they  who  kept 
the  tradition  of  the  "  terem  "  alive  to  a  certain  extent. 
They  grew  fat  early  in  life,  and  had  neither  am- 
bition nor  energy  to  shine.  Whether  in  society  or 
in  their  round  of  home  duties  they  seemed  always 
gentle,  placid,  and  quite  uninterested  in  what  oc- 
curred outside.  Mentally,  morally,  and  materially 
they  depended  on  their  men  to  keep  them  going. 

When  I  reached  Russia,  in  1899,  I  found  the  life 
in  St.  Petersburg  absorbing;  and  the  women  about 


DAUGHTERS  OF  RUSSIA  299 

me  very  new  and  strange  in  type,  and  exceedingly 
interesting.  In  my  husband's  family  every  one  was 
most  cosmopolitan,  and  I  had  no  typical  impressions 
there  at  all.  My  mother-in-law  was  French,  and 
underscored  the  value  of  her  own  race  on  all  oc- 
casions. She  spent  much  of  her  time  in  Paris,  and 
kept  her  frame  of  life  on  foreign  lines.  She  had 
brought  up  her  only  daughter  at  home,  and  had 
then  taken  her  to  Paris  with  a  French  governess 
for  the  last  polishing  of  instruction.  I  necessarily 
turned  elsewhere  than  to  our  family  circle  for 
real  Russian  experiences.  I  noticed  at  once  the 
extreme  vim  and  intense  capacity  for  pleasure  of 
St.  Petersburg  society,  where  the  extraordinary  wit 
and  quickness  of  repartee,  the  immense  culture,  the 
knowledge  of  numerous  languages,  and  the  large 
variety  of  subjects  discussed  were  most  striking. 
Conversations  betrayed  all  this  unconsciously,  for 
there  was  not  the  slightest  pose.  There  was  a  kindli- 
ness, too,  not  usually  seen  in  social  gatherings  else- 
where, with  a  generosity  toward  one  another  and  to 
a  stranger  in  their  midst  which  never  failed.  The 
most  beautiful — and  there  were  many  handsome 
women — lacked  the  attitude  of  professional  beauties. 
Those  who  were  rich  wore  Paris  clothes  with  fine 
jewels,  and  had  palaces  where  they  gave  balls  and 
other  splendid  entertainments.  They  brought  car-^ 
loads  of  fresh  flowers  from  the  south  of  France  for 
their  cotillons,  and  fruits  from  the  Caucasus  for 
their  supper-tables,  in  spite  of  thermometers  at 
thirty  below  zero.  On  the  other  hand,  those  who 


300  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

were  poor  were  dressed  by  a  seamstress  at  home, 
wore  no  ornaments,  and  lived  in  a  flat ;  but  they  asked 
their  friends  to  quiet  evenings  of  music  or  of  bridge, 
simply  offering  them  a  cup  of  tea  with  dignity. 

Yet  never  was  a  difference  made  between  the  rich 
hostess  and  the  poor;  each  could  have  and  keep  her 
success  and  her  friends.  All  society  would  gladly  go 
to  the  first  one's  party,  then  to  that  of  the  other, 
showing  an  equal  pleasure.  It  seemed  as  if  nothing 
counted  to  hold  a  place  in  St.  Petersburg's  charmed 
circle  save  intelligence,  breeding,  good  taste,  and  a 
generally  agreeable  tone;  with  beauty  as  a  secon- 
dary advantage.  If  good  luck  befell  any  one  of  the 
small  smart  set  all  her  clan  rejoiced,  while  if  a  sor- 
row came  they  wept  and  prayed  together  in  simplest 
good  feeling,  each  taking  part  in  the  other's  trouble. 

In  general,  these  women  seemed  to  me  quite  dif- 
ferent from  any  I  had  known  before,  both  in  men- 
tality and  in  looks.  At  first  I  could  judge  only  their 
superficial  aspects,  but  I  was  struck  immediately 
by  their  easy-going  unhurried  ways.  No  fuss  was 
made  in  welcoming  a  stranger.  They  had  no  "  party 
manners,"  but  went  on  quietly  with  the  general  con- 
versation, letting  me  sit  back  or  join  in,  whenever 
I  felt  like  it.  Rather  casual  they  were,  and  some 
foreigners  called  them  indifferent;  but  it  was  hardly 
that.  It  seemed  to  me  only  a  sort  of  frankness. 
One  began  to  feel  at  home  while  the  chat  progressed, 
as  if  they  took  one's  personality  and  antecedents 
for  granted.  One  was  soon  cordially  accepted,  and 
then  gradually  brought  into  an  intimacy  unknown 


DAUGHTERS  OF  RUSSIA  301 

elsewhere,  made  of  close  camaraderie  and  compre- 
hension, with  a  complete  lack  of  criticism. 

Once  I  had  indicated  that  I  held  certain  broad 
principles  in  common  with  them,  wide  latitude  was 
shown  toward  individual  tastes  and  ways.  No 
concession  was  ever  demanded  from  my  opinions, 
which  were  listened  to  with  amiability  and  ready 
interest.  About  a  dinner-table  I  found  there  were 
always  so  many  varying  views  held  on  each  subject 
which  came  up  that  the  talk  was  most  original  and 
animated,  and  generally  very  amusing.  During  the 
season  night  after  night  we  all  sat  up  till  morning; 
for  balls  worthy  of  the  name  never  ended  till  five 
or  six  o'clock,  and  seven  or  eight  was  the  more 
frequent  bedtime  hour;  yet  no  one  looked  fagged, 
or  seemed  dull,  or  ever  wanted  to  go  home.  A  very 
marked  fact  struck  me :  no  two  hostesses  ever  gave 
parties  the  same  evening.  There  was  always  a 
little  talk  and  arranging  so  every  one  could  enjoy 
each  pleasure  as  it  came,  and  there  were  no  ap- 
parent rivalries  or  feuds. 

The  court  balls  were  wonderful — six  or  more  given 
in  the  season,  with  the  most  magnificent  palace  in 
all  Europe  for  their  background.  It  was  only  Rus- 
sian Czars  who  could  place  a  party  of  three  thou- 
sand people  in  a  ballroom  without  crowding  their 
guests,  and  who  could  seat  this  many  at  supper 
in  another  single  hall.  The  imperial  hothouses  sup- 
plied flowers  and  huge  palms,  while  the  food,  the 
music,  and  the  uniforms  were  all  so  perfect  they 
were  impossible  to  outdo,  The  women  managed  to 


302  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

shine,  however,  in  all  the  light  and  splendor  of  the 
scene.  I  discovered  no  one  marked  type  of  looks 
among  them.  Blondes  with  Scandinavian  blood, 
whose  ancestors  had  come  into  the  country  with 
Rurik  and  his  Viking  brothers;  brunettes  with 
Oriental  blood,  handed  down  by  Tartar  ancestors; 
tall  and  short,  fat  and  thin  they  were.  Well  made, 
as  a  rule,  they  looked  healthy  but  not  athletic. 
Rarely  noisy,  but  generally  most  cheerful  company, 
I  found  my  new  compatriots  especially  interesting 
and  attractive  in  facial  expression.  It  was  as  if 
with  a  top  layer  of  simplicity  there  burned  beneath 
the  surface  vast  possibilities  of  temperament  and 
emotion,  of  strength  and  energy,  and  of  serious 
brain  power  as  well.  They  never  had  had  to  do 
anything  yet,  as  they  came  down  developing  through 
the  ages;  but  were  it  necessary,  one  felt  these  souls 
could  and  would  make  good. 

There  was  a  world  of  sympathy  and  passion,  with 
a  capacity  for  joy  and  suffering  which  was  intense, 
and  which  lurked  always  in  the  quiet,  charming  faces 
of  Russia's  upper-class  women. 

By  degrees,  as  I  became  more  used  to  them,  I 
noticed  all  this  less;  but  whenever  occasion  pre- 
sented itself  the  traits  above  mentioned  came  to 
the  surface  at  once  and  played  their  part  in  our 
life.  Through  the  years  my  admiration  for  these 
women  grew,  as  each  new  turn  in  our  fortunes 
showed  them  in  a  new  light.  I  have  never  seen 
greater  dignity  than  my  Russian  sisters  showed, 
when  occasionally  they  were  under  the  stress  of 


DAUGHTERS  OF  RUSSIA  303 

strong  emotion.  Whether  in  happiness  or  sorrow, 
their  great  sincerity  of  heart,  intensity  and  brave 
directness,  brought  them  up  to  the  sublime;  and 
always  they  escaped  being  awkward  or  melodra- 
matic. One  could  approve  the  course  they  took  or 
not;  but  one  could  not  help  being  carried  along 
with  them  in  feeling,  whether  one  wished  it  or 
whether  one  struggled  against  the  current.  No 
Westerner  can  realize  till  he  has  been  among  them 
the  latent  power  of  the  Slav;  neither  can  any 
Westerner  resist  the  marvel  of  these  rich  natures, 
which  are  so  soft,  so  strong,  and  always  fresh  and 
new,  with  their  treasures  of  deep  sentiment.  This 
overflows  in  the  music,  art,  and  literature  of  our 
land. 

If  Russian  parties  are  attractive,  Russian  life  gets 
into  the  blood  and  makes  all  else  seem  tame;  and  I 
have  yet  to  meet  a  foreigner  who,  having  been  for  a 
time  in  the  great  empire,  was  not  full  of  regret  at 
leaving,  and  did  not  long  to  return. 

At  court  functions,  especially  those  where  na- 
tional dress  was  worn,  the  mere  sight  of  the  women 
was  unforgetable.  They  looked  like  their  own 
icons,  with  their  high  diadem-like  "kakoshniki"  of 
seed-pearls,  set  with  great,  barbarous,  scintillating 
colored  stones.  Long  lace  veils  hanging  from  the 
"kakoshniki,"  priceless  heirlooms  for  the  most  part, 
covered  the  top  and  back  of  head  and  shoulders, 
so  none  of  the  hair  showed,  a  remnant  of  the  Orient, 
perhaps.  An  underdress  of  white  satin,  hanging 
straight,  embroidered  with  seed-pearls  or  rich  gold 


304  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

and  silver,  showed  down  the  front  of  the  figure; 
while  the  overdress  of  Renaissance  brocade  or  of 
embroidered  velvet,  though  decollete  quite  off  the 
shoulders  in  court  fashion,  had  heavy  sleeves  which 
hung  in  panels  to  the  ground,  making  a  straight 
sweeping  line  from  the  top.  The  train  belong- 
ing to  this  overdress  was  always  so  long  as  to 
be  quite  hopelessly  unmanageable  as  it  swung  out 
upon  the  floor.  Usually  heavily  trimmed  with 
fur  (sable  predominating  in  the  room),  these  trains 
were  embroidered  exquisitely  by  the  patient  fingers 
of  our  cloistered  nuns.  Old  India  or  Persia  fur- 
nished patterns.  One,  I  remember,  of  pale  rose 
velvet,  was  covered  with  great  sheaves  of  Easter 
lilies  in  natural  size  and  color,  seemingly  bound  to- 
gether with  diamond  chains;  another  chef  d'ceuvre, 
of  soft  gray,  had  a  complete  peacock  represented  in 
all  its  glory,  tail  spread  out  upon  the  train,  with  the 
bird's  narrow,  graceful  head  and  body  climbing  up 
the  wearer's  slender  waist.  The  dowagers  usually 
wore  rich,  plain  velvets  which,  though  made  in 
Russia,  resembled  much  those  of  the  palmy  days  of 
Venice  and  Genoa  in  the  early  fifteenth  century. 

One  rubbed  one's  eyes,  weary  from  the  riot  of 
color  and  the  flash  of  precious  gems.  They  seemed 
a  dream  of  fairy-land,  those  fe*tes  at  court,  and  the 
classic  beauty  of  the  young  Empress  made  her  a 
perfect  central  figure  in  the  gorgeous  grouping  round 
her.  She  had  such  height  and  carriage  as  fitted 
her  for  the  splendid  things  she  wore,  and  she  loved 
to  deck  herself  in  cloth  of  gold  or  silver,  studded 


DAUGHTERS  OF  RUSSIA  305 

and  trimmed  with  jewels.  She  wore  more  of  these 
than  could  any  one  else,  yet  she  never  seemed 
weighted  down  or  overdressed.  Physically  she  was 
the  ideal  sovereign,  moving  with  great  majesty  or 
standing  in  statuesque  pose  among  us.  The  beauty 
of  her  features  and  coloring  was  unmarred  by  the 
tragic  expression  which  always  lurked  both  in  the 
large  blue  eyes  and  in  the  severe  but  well-drawn 
mouth.  She  rarely  spoke,  and  always  looked  bored 
and  intensely  sad;  but  merely  for  its  decorative 
quality  her  presence  was  beyond  all  praise,  and  one 
thinks  of  her  as  part  of  the  historic  tableaux  now 
forever  past  and  gone. 

In  their  homes  the  Russian  women  seemed  to  me 
at  their  best.  On  their  country  estates  they  led, 
till  1914,  an  active  life,  for  the  owner's  wife  always 
took  charge  of  certain  parts  of  the  administration, 
besides  attending  to  the  vast  household  with  its 
numerous  departments — smoking  the  meats,  pre- 
serving the  vegetables  and  fruits,  and  making  the 
native  wines  being  the  least  of  these  duties.  The 
woman  managed  the  hothouses,  the  vegetable,  fruit, 
and  flower  gardens,  she  attended  to  the  barnyard, 
the  dairy,  and  the  splendid  poultry,  and  had  the 
lace  and  carpet  factories,  the  carpenter-shops,  and 
so  on,  under  her  complete  control.  Often  when  the 
husband  did  not  care  for  farming,  or  was  engaged 
in  some  outside  military  or  civil  career,  his  aristo- 
cratic lady  even  handled  all  the  business  of  estates, 
and  showed  herself  an  expert  in  agriculture,  the  breed- 
ing of  stock,  and  everything  connected  with  running 


306  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

from  fifty  to  a  hundred  thousand  acres,  upon  the 
income  of  which  whole  families  must  live.  All  this 
was  taken  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  there  was  no 
fuss  made  over  it,  nor  any  looking  for  praise  from 
outside. 

The  charities  handled  by  our  women,  the  indus- 
trial schools,  and  all  the  thousand  and  one  occupa- 
tions which  came  from  the  effort  to  develop  their 
people  kept  these  female  landowners  immensely 
busy,  yet  I  scarcely  know  of  any  one  of  them  who 
struck  me  as  being  rushed  or  too  preoccupied  to 
sit  down  for  a  friendly  chat. 

Those  who  did  not  read  all  the  good  publications 
coming  out  in  three  or  four  languages  could  be 
counted  on  one's  fingers;  and  every  one  had  as  a 
matter  of  course  read  and  digested  the  classics  of 
standard  literature  from  many  countries.  I  found 
the  older  American  writers  were  well  known,  and  the 
most  varied  moderns — from  Mark  Twain  and  Jack 
London  to  William  James — were  digested  and  appre- 
ciated, remembered  and  quoted.  It  is  not  sur- 
prising such  women  were  attractive  companions,  or 
that  home  life  was  delightful. 

"The  mother"  was  always  the  centre  of  the  home, 
and  spent  much  time  in  apparent  freedom  from  care, 
sitting  behind  her  tea-table,  knitting;  while,  with  an 
air  of  its  being  casual,  at  certain  hours  of  each  day 
husband,  children,  and  the  intimate  friends  who 
had  grown  into  the  household,  found  opportunities 
to  bring  to  her  their  problems,  their  troubles,  or  their 
joys,  certain  of  sympathy  and  understanding.  One 


DAUGHTERS  OF  RUSSIA  307 

had  invariably  a  feeling  of  warmth  and  hospitality, 
however  modest  was  the  lodging,  however  simple  the 
fare;  and  one  wise  old  lady  told  me  once  gently: 
' '  I  don't  like  it  abroad,  because  there  no  one  has  what 
we  have — that  is,  time  for  friendship." 

I  fancied  that  my  Slav  compatriots  could  love 
more,  and  better,  and  longer  than  do  other  races 
of  women,  because  they  had  more  time  and  had 
better  learned  the  science  of  life  and  the  enjoyment 
of  quite  simple  things.  No  other  people  whom  I 
had  ever  seen  gave  their  lives  such  a  full,  rich  note 
of  meaning,  or  got  so  much  out  of  it  as  did  our 
upper  class  until  the  war. 

Nowhere  either  have  I  observed  women  grow  old 
with  such  smiling  contentment.  A  clever  Italian 
once  said  after  he  had  spent  a  season  in  St.  Peters- 
burg, when  I  asked  him  what  he  had  most  liked: 

"The  old  women,  without  a  doubt;  they  are  so 
comprehending  and  so  fresh  at  heart.  They  mellow 
into  age — like  fine  old  wine,  which  gives  one  strength 
and  courage  to  go  on  oneself  toward  time.  There 
is  no  dryness,  no  bitterness;  and  they  are  clever 
and  in  the  movement,  and  unaffectedly  interested 
in  everything.  I  find  them  quite  adorable!  No 
wonder  they  keep  large  groups  of  relations,  friends, 
and  devoted  servitors  about  them.  They  have 
gathered  these  through  long  lives.  They  are  your 
most  wonderful  feature,  for  it  is  not  difficult  to  be 
attractive  when  one  is  young  and  beautiful;  but  to 
attract  at  sixty  /or  seventy,  and  hold  admiration 
without  a  sign  of  effort  or  of  aid  from  dress — one 


308  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

cannot  quite  seize  the  art !  It  is  an  innate  national 
trait  to  be  like  this,  I  believe." 

I  found  this  to  be  so;  and  by  degrees  I  decided 
it  was  the  sincere,  deep  sympathy  they  had  toward 
all  humanity  and  all  work  and  effort.  They  loved 
their  neighbors  as  themselves,  and  kept  a  ready 
hand  outstretched;  and  they  truly  forgave  others 
as  they  hoped  to  be  forgiven  what  sins  lay  on  their 
consciences.  Not  many  these,  and  none  which  came 
from  meanness.  There  seemed  very  little  straining 
at  life's  harness,  somehow.  In  Russia  "marriages 
of  convenience1'  were  never  much  the  fashion,  so 
young  couples  started  out  with  a  fair  chance  for 
happiness  at  home;  divorce  was  difficult  and  much 
frowned  upon  until  the  war,  so  if  the  hearth  was  un- 
happy the  pair  either  tried  to  swallow  their  situation 
and  make  no  moan,  or  else  one  heard  vaguely  of 
Jeft-hand  romances  which  lasted  through  the  years 
and  turned  with  time  into  softened  tender  friend- 
ships. Sometimes  I  noticed,  on  the  contrary,  that 
such  alliances  ended  in  renunciation  and  sacrifice 
to  duties  of  hearth  and  home. 

The  light-headed,  cold-hearted  flirtations  for 
amusement,  and  from  boredom,  such  as  one  sees 
almost  universally  in  other  gay  societies,  seemed  al- 
most totally  lacking,  or  at  any  rate  were  rare  ex- 
ceptions, and,  though  occasionally  things  really  went 
wrong,  I  can  think  of  no  single  case  where  deep  sen- 
timent was  lacking.  There  always  seemed  a  seri- 
ous excuse  for  the  lapses  from  law  and  convention. 
Strangely,  also,  society  was  generally  very  tolerant 


DAUGHTERS  OF  RUSSIA  309 

to  such  culprits  as  there  were  in  its  midst,  and  showed 
them  more  sympathy  than  blame.  Pity  for  the 
woman  was  expressed,  and  understanding  help  was 
ready  and  was  given  invariably.  This  trait  seemed 
to  me  one  of  the  most  winning  qualities  to  be  found 
among  my  compatriots. 

The  war  demolished  the  old  severities  completely 
and  divorce  then  became  an  easy  thing,  with  the 
church's  consent;  but  the  high-bred  group  had 
largely  scattered  by  that  time,  and  what  social  units 
renascent  Russia  will  show,  or  what  will  be  her 
accepted  standards,  it  is  difficult  to  surmise. 

In  our  lower  classes,  who  were  always  quite  un- 
educated and  had  lived  for  generations  in  the  dark, 
the  women  seemed  fully  to  do  their  share  in  carry- 
ing the  general  burden.  They  kept  home  and  chil- 
dren, got  on  well  habitually  with  the  good-natured 
giants  they  married,  and  worked  hard  under  their 
mothers-in-law's  orders,  in  patriarchal  fashion. 
Generally  each  woman  obeyed  both  parents  and  hus- 
band, and  loved  and  reared  a  large  family  until  she 
faded,  very  young,  as  the  Orientals  do.  But  I  found 
they  became  transformed  creatures  if  brought  into 
a  better  atmosphere.  Such  girls  as  came  into  our 
household  as  maids  and  nurses,  or  in  other  positions 
for  service,  showed  intelligence,  devotion,  and  touch- 
ing gratitude.  One  wanted  to  give  them  aid,  one 
felt;  and  not  only  to  them,  but  to  all  their  kind. 
However,  it  was  not  possible  for  any  small  group 
to  bring  about  the  immense  changes  in  our  laws 
that  would  have  been  necessary  to  develop  the  peas- 


310  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

antry;  so  when  we  gave  our  village  people  personal 
care  and  work  to  do,  or  when  we  helped  them 
through  a  bad  year  now  and  again,  we  reached  the 
limit  of  our  possibilities.  It  was  very  striking  to 
see  them  so  grateful  for  little  things  they  received; 
and  their  unbelievable  quickness  to  respond  to  any 
advantage  offered  was  winning  and  encouraging. 

When  the  war  came,  in  one  great  wave  the  women 
rose  to  meet  the  situation.  Without  exception  they 
gave  their  men,  for  the  mobilization  was  general: 
fathers,  sons,  lovers,  brothers,  husbands — all  were 
leaving,  and  yet  the  work  of  these  men,  whether  in 
village  or  on  estate,  must  go  on  or  national  produc- 
tion would  come  to  a  standstill,  and  armies  and 
population  would  both  lack  food.  Every  woman  in 
Russia  realized  the  government  could  supply  noth- 
ing to  our  armies  but  the  bare  necessities  of  war. 
.  .  .  There  were  neither  nurses,  nor  doctors,  nor 
medicines,  nor  Red  Cross  supplies  of  any  kind; 
there  were  no  warm  clothes  for  the  soldiers  and  ref- 
ugees, no  underclothes  or  overcoats,  not  even  enough 
boots  to  go  round  among  the  troops.  Misery  and 
suffering  beyond  all  calculation  stared  the  people 
and  the  fighters  in  the  face;  and  the  powers  above 
were  swamped  by  demands  they  could  not  meet. 

The  women  rose  then  to  their  full  height,  and 
carried  through  individually  and  collectively  real 
miracles  of  organization.  No  labor  was  too  heavy, 
no  strain  too  great.  The  lazy  manner  of  old  was 
replaced  by  one  of  suppressed  fire,  as  brains  and 
bodies,  which  till  then  had  known  but  pleasant 


DAUGHTERS  OF  RUSSIA  311 

things,  worked  twenty  hours  in  the  twenty-four. 
Everywhere  there  were  rapid  preparation,  sudden 
efficiency.  Within  a  month  flying  columns  of  first- 
aid  units  were  on  the  firing  line,  while  back  of  it  at 
every  chateau  and  in  every  city  palace  a  hospital  was 
improvised  and  offered  gratis  to  the  local  adminis- 
tration, with  volunteer  nurses  and  doctors  waiting  in 
their  places. 

In  St.  Petersburg,  as  in  the  country,  every  motor 
was  given  and  used  in  Red  Cross  work;  and  homes 
too  small  to  use  as  storehouses  or  hospitals  were 
turned  into  shops  producing  clothes  and  bandages. 
Sewn  and  knitted  comfort  lay  piled  up  in  every  salon, 
rows  of  hospital  beds  and  furniture  stretched  across 
ballrooms;  sewing-machines — whether  one  or  fifty 
of  them — hummed  in  every  house.  Conversation 
was  reduced  to  the  news,  military  and  political, 
and  to  the  discussion  of  ways  and  means  to  treat 
problems  which  cropped  up.  To  face  these  was  not 
easy,  for  there  were  few  able  to  teach  or  lead.  Al- 
most no  one  knew  anything;  largely  we  had  to  feel 
our  way,  and  it  was  hard  to  judge  what  thing  was 
most  needed,  when  so  much  was  being  called  for. 
All  one  had  was  given  without  counting  and  with- 
out stint;  jewels  were  pawned  to  pay  for  Red  Cross 
trains  and  other  practical  small  things.  Faces  went 
white  and  strained;  and  the  passion  in  the  eyes, 
dormant  of  old,  was  all  alight.  It  took  the  outward 
form  of  exalted  sacrifice.  .  .  . 

I  read  here  once  on  a  begging  poster:  ''Give  till  it 
hurts ! "  and  I  thought  of  the  Russian  women  in  those 


312  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

early  days  of  the  great  war — and  for  three  long 
years  afterward — when  they  gave  and  gave,  and 
pared  down  their  own  lives,  but  never  seemed  to  feel 
it  even,  as  time  and  money,  hearts  and  souls,  went 
into  the  great  movement.  In  the  largest  houses 
meals  were  cut  down  to  one  dish  or  two;  dresses 
were  not  renewed,  and  every  one  walked  in  the  snowy 
streets — those  who  before  had  owned  rich  motors. 
One  sitting-room  only  was  generally  kept  heated, 
and  great  reception-halls  became  mere  warehouses; 
or  if  all  these  were  warm,  it  was  because  the  wounded 
and  convalescent  were  living  there.  Every  one  re- 
sponded to  the  calls,  to  the  extreme  limit  of  his  or 
her  possibilities.  Perhaps  this  great  overstraining 
was  one  reason  why,  when  deeper  troubles  came,  the 
population  was  no  longer  able  to  hold  out  against 
them  and  broke  down. 

The  war  went  on  for  weeks,  and  months,  and  years ; 
some  women  physically  suffered  a  collapse,  others 
mentally  or  morally  could  not  stand  the  strain,  with 
the  constant  wear  of  work,  the  intense  anxiety  as  to 
home  conditions,  and  the  agony  of  slow  retreats 
and  frightful  losses  at  the  front.  Yet  most  of  these 
patriots  went  on  mechanically  with  their  duties, 
though  their  figures  wore  to  shadows  of  what  they 
had  been  before. 

After  about  a  year  of  war  a  new  type  of  woman 
appeared  among  us:  Amazons  who  did  men's  work 
in  field  and  stable,  farmyard  and  street,  and  who 
did  it  well,  making  men's  wages  easily.  In  the 
country  these  developed  rapidly,  and  handled  many 


DAUGHTERS  OF  RUSSIA  313 

duties  never  thought  of  before  in  their  connection; 
and  the  new  phase  promised  much  for  the  future  of 
woman's  power  in  the  land.  Many  daughters  of 
the  soil  also  tried  soldiering,  even  early  in  the  war, 
especially  those  from  our  mountain  districts  who 
possessed  magnificent  physiques.  I  was  in  the 
Caucasus  in  the  summer  of  1916,  and  I  found  the 
small  town  where  I  spent  two  months  had  sent  a 
contingent  of  fifty  women  to  the  front,  who  were 
fighting  as  volunteers,  while  another  unit,  equally 
large,  was  preparing  to  leave. 

They  usually  engaged  themselves  as  men,  and 
often  their  sex  was  not  recognized  during  long  ser- 
vice. One  case  like  this  came  to  my  notice,  which 
seemed  especially  striking.  Several  wounded  sol- 
diers from  a  single  regiment  were  brought  into  a 
hospital  back  of  the  firing  line  one  day.  Among 
them  a  tall,  slim  young  chap  was  discovered  by 
nurses  and  doctors  to  be  a  woman.  Badly  wounded 
she  was,  and  her  comrades  whom  the  surgeon  ques- 
tioned seemed  greatly  surprised  to  learn  the  secret 
of  her  sex,  which  she  had  guarded  perfectly  through 
much  hard  fighting  and  several  months  of  life  in 
camp  or  in  the  trenches.  They  said  she  had  never 
shown  the  least  fatigue  or  the  slightest  tremor  of 
fear;  had  been  always  the  first  to  volunteer  for  any 
dangerous  duty,  and  was  the  fiercest  warrior  in  the 
regiment  when  the  battle  was  on.  They  could 
hardly  believe  the  news. 

When  she  was  well  enough  to  speak  herself,  she 
told  the  head  sister  her  story.  Young  and  strong, 


314  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

a  Caucasian  tribeswoman,  she  had  remained  at 
home  at  first  and  let  her  men  go  out  to  war.  The 
Germans  had  killed  her  father,  her  husband,  and 
her  three  brothers  in  the  first  six  months.  Then 
she  felt  she  must  kill  Germans  to  revenge  her  own 
family  thus  wiped  out;  so  she  had  gone  to  the  near- 
est recruiting  station,  given  a  false  name,  and  as 
they  were  in  a  hurry  drafting  the  new  men  they 
made  no  physical  examination  of  any  one  who 
looked  as  strong  as  she.  The  tale  she  told  that  she 
had  lost  her  identification  passport  was  accepted 
and  she  was  given  a  soldier's  paper  without  question. 
She  went  forward  to  the  training-station. 

"  After  that  it  was  smooth  enough  sailing,  for  I 
had  always  handled  a  gun,  and  could  ride  and  walk 
and  shoot  with  the  best,  and  was  used  to  our  rough 
mountain  life  and  camping.  Only,  sister,  I  must 
get  well  now  quickly,  and  return  to  my  duty  to 
revenge  my  dead  and  shoot  more  of  the  enemy !" 

There  were  a  lot  of  such  girls  and  women  in  the 
ranks — sometimes  thirsting  for  revenge,  sometimes 
following  a  husband  or  a  lover.  The  general  testi- 
mony was  to  their  splendid  pluck  and  endurance. 
I  never  heard  any  criticism  of  their  conduct,  nor 
could  fault  be  found  with  the  discipline  they  showed. 

Aside  from  these  female  soldiers  there  were  many 
women  in  more  normal  r61es,  living  constantly,  dur- 
ing three  years,  out  on  the  firing  line.  Great  ladies 
stayed  with  the  troops  and  turned  their  newly 
hardened,  blackened  hands  to  doing  chores;  risking 
their  lives  daily  to  bring  the  wounded  back  toward 


DAUGHTERS  OF  RUSSIA  315 

home  and  help.  They  established  long  lines  of 
first-aid  motor-cars,  and  were  generally  supporting 
these  machines  from  their  own  purses.  Aristocrats 
were  ably  seconded  by  their  sisters  from  every  walk 
in  life,  as  they  all  struggled  shoulder  to  shoulder  in 
the  great  cause.  Ex-beauties  of  the  court  and  their 
own  maids  were  wearing  the  same  khaki,  doing  the 
same  fine  work  saving  mankind;  and  among  the 
groups  scattered  up  and  down  the  front  one  saw 
artists,  courtesans,  peasants,  or  bourgeoises,  with 
the  nobility,  giving  faithful  service  in  nurses'  dress. 
They  all  did  without  beds  or  sufficient  food,  and 
they  worked  night  and  day  to  feed  and  clothe  the 
soldiers  before  battle,  and  to  gather,  transport,  and 
care  for  the  wounded  afterward. 

Hundreds  of  these  sisters  won  medals  of  St. 
George,  and  some  had  several  successive  grades 
awarded  them  for  repeated  gallant  services.  One, 
the  head  of  a  flying  column,  whom  I  had  known 
well  in  Petrograd's  gay  days,  as  a  fragile  belle  at 
many  a  ball,  seized  an  enemy's  boat  moored  to  a 
river  bank  and  ferried  it  back  and  forth  for  two  long 
days  and  nights  under  German  fire,  carrying  pro- 
visions and  munitions  going  and  the  wounded  on  her 
return  trips. 

Another  Red  Cross  sister,  who  had  been  attached 
for  some  time  to  a  certain  unit  of  troops  on  the 
Polish  front,  volunteered  and  went  into  battle  with 
a  company  of  infantry  sent  forward  to  capture  some 
trenches.  The  fight  was  especially  deadly;  every 
officer  in  the  small  band  was  shot  before  the  last 


316  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

trench  was  reached.  The  sister  and  her  stretcher- 
bearers,  with  the  young  student  doctor  attached, 
had  helped  all  those  they  could.  The  officers  had 
been  stretched  out,  and  when  possible  made  com- 
fortable, but  not  one  of  them  was  able  to  stand  or 
to  give  orders;  and  still  there  remained  that  last 
trench  to  take.  In  the  emergency  this  woman, 
seizing  a  sword,  rushed  to  the  head  of  the  small 
waiting  band  of  soldiers  and,  shouting  the  order  to 
charge,  with  her  veil  and  skirt  flying,  she  led  the 
way! 

Of  course  every  man  followed  her.  With  tre- 
mendous enthusiasm  the  trench  was  captured,  and 
the  little  Red  Cross  sister  had  time  to  realize  the 
victory  was  won  before  she  dropped  dead,  her  heart 
pierced  by  a  German  bullet. 

With  deep  reverence  the  men  carried  her  body 
back  to  safety.  Later  she  was  given  a  military 
funeral,  and  because  she  had  already  received  the 
whole  series  of  decorations  given  to  women  she  was 
now  awarded  a  man's  decoration  for  her  man's 
work,  the  Officers'  Cross  of  the  Order  of  St.  George, 
which  was  laid  upon  her  coffin  by  the  committee  of 
that  order.  I  was  told  at  the  time  her  honors  were 
unique;  as  much  so  as  her  actions  meriting  them 
had  been. 

Back  of  the  lines  all  over  Russia,  each  in  her  quiet 
corner,  other  women  worked,  and  prayed,  and  worked 
again ;  and  perhaps  their  patience  and  the  way  they 
faced  the  gathering  difficulties  through  those  hard 
months  of  1914,  1915,  and  1916  were  no  less  fine 


DAUGHTERS  OF  RUSSIA  317 

than  was  the  action  of  their  sisters  who  accompanied 
our  armies. 

I  was  always  hearing  of  their  courage  in  the  field 
and  their  power  of  making  a  little  go  a  long  way  to 
help  the  men;  also  of  the  inspiration  which  the 
women  gave.  It  was  all  the  soldiers  ever  received 
in  the  way  of  care  and  comfort,  for  from  first  to 
last  the  government  could  do  nothing  in  this  line 
at  all.  There  was  never  even  a  question  of  mak- 
ing trenches  livable,  or  of  the  possibility  of  giving 
proper  uniforms ;  and,  of  course,  no  one  thought  of  of- 
fering a  pleasure  or  distraction  to  either  the  officers 
or  soldiers  who,  during  three  years,  strove  to  hold 
our  frontiers  in  the  common  cause.  They  had  no  va- 
cations from  the  firing  line,  even,  save  ten  days  once 
in  each  three  months;  and  that  was  only  thought 
of  in  the  second  year  of  war !  All  the  money  we 
women  could  scrape  together  went  for  absolute 
necessities  which  the  authorities  could  not  provide; 
and  the  latter  felt  they  had  every  reason  to  be  proud 
if  they  managed  to  supply  just  munitions  and  black 
bread  in  sufficient  quantities  to  keep  such  huge 
armies  as  were  needed  on  a  battle-line  two  thousand 
miles  in  length !  The  government  was  not  success- 
ful always  in  giving  even  so  much  to  its  sons,  and 
misery  was  always  great.  .  .  .  No  wonder  German 
propaganda  sowed  its  seeds  on  fertile  ground ! 

When  the  revolution  came  every  woman  rejoiced; 
for  high  and  low,  in  each  stratum  of  the  nation,  its 
daughters  had  been  discouraged  by  the  complete 
helplessness  of  the  autocratic  regime  in  facing  war 


318  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

problems.  To  every  fireside  the  new  theories  brought 
fresh  hope  and  courage.  Those  farthest  from  the 
capital  kept  these  longest,  but,  after  the  third  or 
fourth  month  of  liberty  had  passed,  illusions  faded 
out  all  over  Russia.  The  women  began  to  wonder 
what  their  duties  could  be  in  the  conditions  of 
growing  disorder.  Some  soon  faced  a  business 
crisis,  with  the  wrecking  of  homes,  the  arrest,  mar- 
tyrdom, and  murder  of  their  sons,  husbands,  broth- 
ers, and  fathers,  while  they  heard  insults  never-end- 
ing addressed  to  all  they  held  most  dear. 

Others  faced  the  breaking  up  of  their  war-work 
organizations.  All  saw  their  fortunes  by  degrees 
crumble,  and  the  ancient  frame  of  life  blow  down. 
Worn  and  weary,  racked  in  soul  and  body,  they 
watched  the  slow  disintegration  of  our  whole  na- 
tion's fabric  through  the  German  propaganda  and 
the  growing  movement  of  Bolshevism.  It  was 
amazing  how  the  test  was  stood.  The  peasant 
women  in  the  villages  everywhere  fought  vodka  and 
disorders,  which  gained  ground  in  spite  of  them. 

In  the  upper  classes  the  women  leaders  of  the 
revolution  preached  true  liberty  and  against  blind 
tyranny  with  all  their  strength.  The  venerable 
Catherine  Breshko-Breshkovsky  forgot  her  age 
and  her  thirty  years  of  prison,  and  travelled  about 
calling  to  arms  in  the  crusade  against  anarchy. 
Then  she  went  to  live  near  Kerensky  at  the  Winter 
Palace,  of  which  he  had  taken  possession,  doubtless 
hoping  to  uphold  that  demagogue's  failing  will. 
Many  other  women  worked  and  spoke,  hoped  and 


DAUGHTERS  OF  RUSSIA  319 

believed,  to  the  eleventh  hour,  loath  to  give  up  their 
fair  ideals  born  of  the  revolution. 

The  action  of  Maria  Botchkarova  was,  perhaps, 
the  most  marvellous  of  all.  A  peasant,  with  a  cruel 
life  behind  her,  a  soldier  in  the  front  ranks  since 
the  war  began,  she  realized  in  the  early  months  of 
the  revolution  how  the  monster  anarchy  was  threat- 
ening Russia's  safety  and  honor.  Without  hesitation 
she  acted,  and  by  her  own  personal  effort  alone  she 
created,  drilled,  and  conducted  into  battle  that 
wonderful  organization,  the  "Women's  Death  Bat- 
talion." The  members  of  it  took  an  oath  to  save 
our  national  honor  or  to  die.  They  made  it  their 
business  to  be  such  an  example  as  men  might  well 
be  proud  to  follow.  To  me  this  group  collectively 
stands  in  our  history  on  a  par  with  that  single  heroine 
of  France,  Joan  of  Arc.  They  suffered  for  the  lack 
of  all  material  things,  but  never  complained;  they 
withstood  the  test  of  ridicule  and  all  temptations, 
as  they  did  also  the  taunts  of  prejudiced  onlookers. 

First  they  fought  against  the  Germans  at  the 
front,  and  were  killed  like  flies  because  the  regi- 
ments on  each  side  broke  and  fled,  leaving  these 
women  to  face  a  bloody  fate.  Their  ranks  were 
reformed  at  once  then,  and  companies  were  filled 
out  with  fresh  volunteers.  Again  they  threw  them- 
selves into  the  m£16e.  Against  terrific  odds  they 
stayed  there,  fighting,  dying,  till  they  were  called 
away  for  a  still  rougher  and  more  tragic  duty. 
K6rensky,  the  people's  idol  once,  could  no  longer, 
after  October,  1917,  trust  his  own  guardians  about 


820  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

the  Winter  Palace,  so  he  ordered  back  the  women 
from  the  battle  front  to  protect  him.  And  they  did 
so  faithfully  until  the  end. 

The  crash  came,  and  the  mob  of  Bolshevik  sol- 
diers attacked  the  palace  of  the  ancient  Czars, 
become  Kerensky's  home  and  offices  under  the  new 
regime.  The  troop  of  women  stood  their  ground 
there  firmly.  Hour  after  hour,  day  after  day, 
through  that  time  of  chaos  and  of  blood,  they  de- 
fended the  last  citadel  of  law  and  order. 

The  fight  continued  till  nearly  all  were  sacrificed 
and  they  were  too  few  to  cover  more  than  one 
entrance  to  the  great  building.  Long  since,  Ke- 
rensky  the  dictator  had  fled,  leaving  his  defenders 
to  their  destiny,  while  the  other  ministers,  braver 
than  he,  remained,  only  to  be  arrested  in  the 
council  hall.  Still  Botchkarova's  company  rallied 
again  and  again.  At  last  but  a  few  women  were 
left;  and  they  had  nothing  more  to  hold,  for  the 
mob  had  seized  the  palace's  rear  doors  and  entered 
it.  All  was  over,  and  the  Bolsheviki  took  up  the 
government  in  triumph. 

The  leaders  of  the  first  March  revolution  have 
long  been  exiles  abroad,  begging  Allies  for  their  as- 
sistance in  the  great  cause  of  Russia's  liberty,  and 
waiting  in  patience  for  the  rebirth  of  our  land.  Such 
women  as  were  the  "femmes  des  halles"  in  Paris,  or 
the  Rosa  Luxemburgs  of  Berlin,  are  conspicuous  by 
their  absence  in  our  country  throughout  the  present 
reign  of  terror. 

Undoubtedly,  like  others,  Russian  people  have 


DAUGHTERS  OF  RUSSIA  321 

many  faults,  but  throughout  their  history,  and  as  I 
have  known  them,  our  women  seem  soft  and  gentle 
creatures,  utterly  feminine.  Orient's  heat  and  north- 
ern snows,  the  vague  broad  steppes  and  the  closed-in 
forests,  low  Baltic  marshes  and  high  pinnacles  of 
Caucasian  rock — each  is  reflected  in  the  Slav's  great 
mystery,  each  has  contributed  something  to  her 
nature.  When  her  present  trials  are  over,  and  she 
comes  at  last  into  her  own,  it  will  be  seen  what  late 
experiences  have  done  to  mould  the  riches  of  her 
nature.  She  has  learned  only  from  suffering  and 
sacrifice  throughout  the  centuries,  and  yet  has 
labored  on  and  has  accomplished  much.  How  she 
will  blossom  when  at  last  the  sunlight  shines  upon 
her,  is  a  question  for  the  future  to  prove. 


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tsiOV  271940 

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